FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2001
FHSAA Board of Directors retains classification plan for individual sports; approves recognition of water polo
GAINESVILLE – The Board of Directors of the Florida High School Activities Association today voted to retain the current method of classifying member senior high schools in individual sports for FHSAA State Series competition, as well as approving recognition status for girls and boys water polo.
The FHSAA will continue to form the dividing lines between the classifications in each individual sport by dividing the total number of existing member schools that commit to participate in the sport evenly into the number of classifications approved for that sport. All classification and district assignments will be for a two-year period – the 2001-02 and 2002-03 school years -- the lone departure from the current practice.
"Unlike with the team sports, there haven't been any requests from our member schools to standardize the classification and district assignments for individual sports, since there is no mandatory district schedule in these sports," explained Commissioner Robert W. Hughes. "Therefore, we didn't see the need to adjust the provisions of the Classification Policy dealing with individual sports at this time."
The Board also approved the recognition of boys and girls water polo as interscholastic sports, as per the "Categorization of Interscholastic Sports" policy adopted last year. To be recognized, a minimum of 32 senior high schools that have participated in the sport for a minimum of two years must petition the Commissioner in writing for recognition of the sport. Not more than three-fourths of these schools may be located in the same administrative section.
The FHSAA received 32 letters of petition for boys water polo, 41 percent from schools in Administrative Section 2 and 59 percent from schools in Administrative Section 4, and 35 letters of petition for girls water polo, 37 percent from schools in Administrative Section 2 and 63 percent from schools in Administrative Section 4.
Recognition simply means the sport must abide by Association bylaws, policies, rules and contest regulations with regard to student eligibility and sportsmanship in interscholastic contests.
"While it may not be a large number, members of the Association have played water polo for years," said Hughes. "These schools took the steps required by the policy to obtain recognition status for this sport."
In other business, the Board of Directors:
• Appointed Bill Blakemore, athletic director and FHSAA representative at Lely High School (Naples) to fill the vacant Division 25 public school delegate seat for on the 2001 FHSAA Representative Assembly, which meets April 9-10 in Gainesville.
• Approved corresponding meeting dates for the 2001-02 school year for the Board of Directors, Sectional Appeals Committees and Representative Assembly, with the exception of the November meetings of the Sectional Appeals Committees, which will meet November 7-9, 2001, and Board of Directors, which will meet on December 2-3, 2001, both of which were dictated by calendar rotation.
• Heard two appeals filed by member schools on behalf of students seeking reinstatement of eligibility who were initially denied relief by the Association's Sectional Appeals Committees. The Board of Directors denied the eligibility of student Howard Quervo of South Miami and students Lamar Dobbins, Akeem Francis, Richard Julius, Shawn Samuel and Fitzroy Williams of Champagnat Catholic (Hialeah).
The Florida High School Activities Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletic competition in Florida. It has a membership of 640 middle, junior and senior high schools.
The FHSAA Board of Directors is the executive authority of the Association, establishing guidelines, regulations, policies and procedures within the framework of the Association's bylaws. The Board of Directors also has sole authority over all terms and conditions of participation and competition in the FHSAA state championship series. The Board of Directors meets five times annually. Its next meeting is June 14-15 at the Wyndham Westshore in Tampa.
Contact:
Jack Watford
Director of Communications, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 170
jwatford@fhsaa.org
