FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 2001


Board of Directors gives tentative approval to two-sports-per-season rule; OK’s change to contest officials evaluation and selection process

GAINESVILLE – The Board of Directors of the Florida High School Activities Association on Dec. 3 gave tentative approval to a proposed policy for interpreting and implementing a newly adopted bylaw that requires member schools to sponsor a minimum of two sports per season to be eligible for participation in the FHSAA state championship series in any sport.

The Board of Directors also approved a revision to the procedure for evaluating and selecting contest officials to officiate FHSAA state championship series contests.

The “two-sports-per-season” bylaw amendment was adopted in April 2001 by the FHSAA Representative Assembly. The bylaw will take effect July 1, 2002 and will impact schools’ eligibility to participate in the FHSAA state championship series beginning with the 2003-04 school year.

The proposed policy for implementing the bylaw:

• states that one of the two sports sponsored by a school in each season must be a team sport – baseball, basketball, football, soccer, softball or girls volleyball.

• defines “representative schedule” as being six contests in football, 12 contests in team sports and one-half the number of allowable contests in individual sports; and

• establishes a minimum number of individuals who must participate in a sport for it to be considered a legitimate program

The policy also addresses other concerns relative to state series participation. If adopted, individual student-athletes will be required to participate in a minimum of four regular season contests to be eligible to represent their school in state series competition. In individual sports, the policy also stipulates that for a student-athlete to be eligible to win individual championship honors at any level of the state series, he or she must have competed in and been eligible for individual championship honors on all previous levels.

“The bylaw amendment was adopted by the Representative Assembly in response to certain member schools that sponsor a limited number of athletic programs, devote all their resources to those programs and, consequently, dominate state championship series competition in those sports,” Commissioner Robert W. Hughes. “The policy now lays out the guidelines that schools must follow to be in compliance with the bylaw. It is important that these guidelines ensure that member schools comply with the spirit of the bylaw, and not simply just the wording of the bylaw. We believe that the policy we have drafted is comprehensive and accomplishes this goal.”

The Board of Directors will vote on final approval of the policy at its Feb. 4, 2002 meeting.

Reacting to the concerns of contest officials, the Board of Directors endorsed in concept a plan that will give contest officials interested in working FHSAA state championship series contests the option of attending training and evaluation camps conducted either by private firms recognized by the FHSAA, camps conducted by the FHSAA itself, or both.

In recognizing privately run camps, the FHSAA will verify that the camps are teaching National Federation rules and mechanics and are evaluating officials on that basis. Camps conducted by the FHSAA most likely will be incorporated into existing field clinics.

The FHSAA staff will work out the details of the plan, which will be implemented effective with the upcoming 2002-03 school year.

The Board of Directors also approved Hughes’ recommendation to survey those schools currently sponsporing girls flag football and boys volleyball programs as to their interest in participating in an invitational state championship series in the 2002-03 school year. Should a sufficient number of schools express interest in participating in such an event, the FHSAA staff will develop terms and conditions for the state series for consideration by the Board of Directors at its Feb. 4 meeting. At least 48 schools sponsoring a program in those sports then will be required to agree to those terms and conditions by committing to participate in the invitational state championship series before it is implemented.

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 the 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 Feb. 3-4, 2002 in Gainesville.

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