FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 28, 1998


Commissioner Ron Davis announces retirement from office effective January 15, 1999

GAINESVILLE – Ronald N. Davis has announced his intention to retire as Commissioner of the Florida High School Activities Association effective January 15, 1999. His letter of resignation to Association President Richard Misenti was accepted by the FHSAA Board of Directors at its regularly scheduled January meeting held Jan. 25-26 at the Association’s office in Gainesville.

The Board of Directors immediately approved a plan set forth by Misenti for selecting Davis’ replacement, who will be asked to join the staff as Commissioner Designate by August 1.

Davis, who succeeded Fred E. Rozelle as Commissioner of the Association on July 1, 1991, can be credited with paving the Association’s way into the 21st century. He has overseen an extensive modernization of the Association’s operations, and has moved the FHSAA to the nation’s forefront in the use of computers for reporting and tracking student eligibility. Four hundred twenty-nine of the Association’s 601 member schools thus far have made the conversion from paper to electronic eligibility using the Association’s "Quick Elig" program. This year, for the first time, almost 25 percent of "Quick Elig" users have taken the next step in the process by filing their eligibility data directly to the Association’s office using the internet resulting in a truly paperless eligibility system. The Association’s web site, "FHSAA Online", originally conceived as a port-of-call for member schools to use in downloading their eligibility data has rapidly become a vital tool for communication with member schools, officials, the news media and the general public. Updated brackets for each FHSAA Championship tournament in progress can be found on the web site, along with news releases, agendas for and minutes of official meetings, and the complete member school directory. Planned for the future are postings of the Association’s bylaws, policies and athletic regulations for access by those who visit the site.

With the support of the Association’s Board of Directors, Davis has almost doubled the Association’s staff from 10 full-time members and one part-timer to 19 full-time members and two part-timers; and has purchased a new office building which houses the Association’s entire operation and provides additional revenue to the Association in rental income.

"I am pleased with what has been accomplished during my tenure as the Commissioner of the Association," Davis said in his letter to Misenti. ". . . I trust that the future of the Association will be more secure as a result of my efforts. It is my sincere hope and desire that the Association continues to move forward on the positive path which we have established in the past seven years."

Under Davis’ leadership, the FHSAA has negotiated agreements with corporate partners and instituted an officially licensed souvenir merchandise program that has helped the Association to grow financially without negatively impacting its member schools. And while the Association’s revenue from its sports programs has increased, the percentage of receipts collected from tournaments in which the member schools participate has actually been decreased – from 30 to 25 percent in football, and from 20 to 15 percent in other sports.

Davis also has opened the lines of communication between the member schools and those who govern them. The institution of advisory committees for athletic directors, officials and coaches in every sport in which the FHSAA conducts a championship program now gives those important groups direct access to the decision-making process. Each year those committees meet to discuss their concerns and forward dozens of recommendations to the Board of Directors for its consideration. A public liaison advisory committee, which provides a similiar vehicle for input to the general public, is in its second year of operation as is the sports medicine advisory committee, which is comprised of medical experts and athletic trainers.

Another area important to Davis is the recognition of schools and individuals who achieve success in areas other than those in which the Association awards championships. To this end, Davis has worked to establish four special recognition programs – the FHSAA Hall of Fame, the Fred E. Rozelle Sportsmanship Awards, the Floyd E. Lay All-Sports Awards and the FHSAA Academic All-State Team – to recognize individuals for their contributions to the Association, student-athletes for their success in the classroom, and member schools for their exemplary sportsmanship and overall athletic success.

But what Davis may best be remembered for is holding the Association together during what certainly will be remembered as the most tumultuous decade in its 70-plus year history. From an internal struggle between public member schools and private member schools that almost split the Association to an external challenge to its very right to exist by the Florida Legislature to a personal challenge to the integrity of the Commissioner’s office itself, Davis has fought for the preservation of the FHSAA, the unity of its diverse membership and the commitment to its purpose, which is to provide educational activities through which Florida’s more than one half million high school students can participate fairly and equitably.

"I feel that I am now at a crossroads with the Association and it is an appropriate time for me to seriously reevaluate my future with the organization," Davis wrote. "After considerable consideration and consultation with members of my family, I have decided to tender my resignation as Commissioner of the Florida High School Activities Association effective January 15, 1999. It is my hope that this will give you (Misenti) and the Board of Directors adequate time to select a new Commissioner and ensure that the new Commissioner will have a period of time during which to familiarize himself or herself with the demands, commitments and responsibilities of the job."

The FHSAA will officially advertise the opening in the Office of Commissioner in its February and March newsletters, and will place similar advertisements in the appropriate publications of the National Federation of State High School Associations. Applicants must submit cover letters and resumes to Misenti at East Lake High School in Tampa by May 1. A search committee to be appointed by Misenti will meet May 16 to screen the applicants and, if necessary, determine a number of candidates for interview. Those interviews will take place June 6 and 7, with a minimum of three finalists being submitted to the Board of Directors for its consideration at its June 18-20 meeting in Daytona Beach.

In other action at its Jan. 25-26 meeting, the Board of Directors:

• Officially adopted the FHSAA Bylaws as adjusted pursuant to Florida Law 97-53 in accordance with FHSAA Bylaw 28.1.1 which states, "The Board of Directors and Commissioner are authorized to make necessary adjustments in these Bylaws to be consistent with State Statutes."

• Selected the Daytona Beach Hilton as the site for the April 20-21 meeting of the FHSAA Representative Assembly and the June 18-20 meeting of the FHSAA Board of Directors.

• Tabled action on the addition of girls bowling, girls fall slow-pitch softball and girls weightlifting to the FHSAA championship program until the staff has time to prepare an analysis of the costs which will be incurred by member schools and the Association in the addition of these programs.

• Voted to submit to the Representative Assembly as a proposed bylaw amendment the recommendation of the ad-hoc committee formed to study the issue of compliance with academic eligibility requirements by nonpublic member schools. The recommendation reads as follows: "Principals will certify academic eligibility based upon each school’s grading scale and that, as a minimum, the 2.0 grade point average has to be equivalent to 77 percent. If an athlete’s eligibility is challenged, it will be the principal’s responsibility to prove the eligibility."

• Adjusted the format of the championship games in the FHSAA Florida Girls Basketball Finals and FHSAA Florida Boys Basketball Finals. Championship games on Friday and Saturday in both tournaments will be played in single-game sessions which will tip off at 2 p.m., 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. EST. The price of admission to each session will remain $6.

• Changed the date of the FHSAA Florida Class 3A Weightlifting Finals from Saturday, April 18 to Friday, April 17 at the request of Marianna High School, which will serve as host for the meet.

• Approved the composition, method of election and guidelines for the Association’s various advisory committees under the new governance structure.

Contact:
Jack Watford
Director of Communications, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 170
jwatford@fhsaa.org