Soccer Advisory Committee

Minutes
March 7, 2006 • 10 a.m.
Conference Call Meeting


The Soccer Coaches Advisory Committee conference call meeting was called to order on Tuesday, Mar. 7, 2006 at 10:05 a.m. Committee members present were: Jim Lieb, Bolles (Jacksonville); John Fuller, Trinity Catholic (Ocala); James Cross, George Jenkins (Lakeland); and Bill Eissele, Lake Mary/FACA Representative.

FHSAA staff members present were Denarvise Thornton, Senior Director of Athletics; Tamara Wilsey, Associate Director of Athletics and Michelle Owens, Intern.

Members not in attendance were: Jerry McCabe, Melbourne; and David Villano, Ransom Everglades (Miami).

The annual meeting was a conference call, for a lack of quorum and no agenda items being submitted.

I. After brief introductions by all present, a reminder to the committee of their duties and responsibilities to the high school soccer community was given.

II. The agenda and minutes from the March 2005 meeting were reviewed.

III. The committee asked for clarification in the rules video on the mandatory hydration break and when/if substitutions are permitted. The 1-minute only time frame needs to be emphasized to officials for next season.

IV. FHSAA staff will edit section 107.04 Card System for Misconduct of the FHSAA Soccer Manuals to reflect the 2005-06 NFHS changes to Rule 12. No other clarifications were requested.

V. Mr. Eissele thanked the FHSAA for another great state finals in Fort Lauderdale. The BCAA staff, facilities, and atmosphere were extraordinary. There were concerns with securing hotels again this year. Possible recommendation is for the FHSAA to secure hotel rooms for each class to alleviate the hassle and time involved in getting rooms on such a late notice.

VI. A brief review of the 2006-07 NFHS rules was given to the committee. There are no concerns at this time.

VII. Mr. Thornton discussed concern by the FHSAA in regard to red cards for gross unsportsmanlike conduct and foul language among athletes. This infraction is a large percentage of the red cards that are received in the sport of soccer.
Ms. Wilsey reviewed emails that the FHSAA office was receiving from parents and spectators on the poor sportsmanship observed at games that they attended.

The committee also expressed concern for the lack of civility that they have observed by spectators in the stands of their games. The need for more involvement from school administrators was discussed as a possible solution.

VIII. Open Agenda
a. Tie-Break Procedures-Concern for the tie-break procedure coming down to a coin flip when it determines 1st & 2nd seed in the district tournament. Committee would like to see some other team statistic used in determining the seeds.
b. Mandatory Hydration Period-Discussion about moving to a voluntary hydration period or heat index based system was brought up from the committee. After reviewing the situation, the committee is still in favor of keeping the new rule as it is written and intended.
c. Video Training for Officials-The committee often deals with inconsistencies in fouls being called. They were interested in finding out if there were training materials for officials that showed the same message on what is a foul and what is not. FHSAA noted that ASEP has an Officiating Soccer interactive training guide and that coaches may request officials to attend a team scrimmage to practice their mechanics any time during their season.
d. Preseason Classics-There is an FHSAA policy that only allows 4 teams to participate in a classic for all sports. Any change would need to come from an action item.
e. Cross Bracketing-With so many district champion and runner-up meetings in the region finals this year, a question about cross bracketing arose. Mr. Eissele reminded the group of the way bracketing is done now was due to the high cost of travel and missed time from school when there was cross bracketing. The committee agreed that things are good the way they are now.
f. Athletic Trainers-The idea of requiring trainers at all soccer competitions was presented. The ramifications of requiring trainers at all competitions, as well as moving to require all sports to have trainers present is too much of a burden to place on member schools currently. The FHSAA requires trainers at all FHSAA Finals events and the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee is also looking into the feasibility or regular season athletic trainer requirements.

IX. The meeting was adjourned at 10:55 a.m.