FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 4, 2002


Board of Directors approves terms and conditions for inaugural state championship series in boys volleyball, girls flag football; adopts policy to interpret two-sports-per-season bylaw

GAINESVILLE – The Board of Directors of the Florida High School Activities Association today approved terms and conditions for an inaugural state championship series in the sports of boys volleyball and girls flag football to be implemented in the 2002-03 school year.

Commitment forms for the two emerging sports will be mailed to member senior high schools later this school year. For the new championships to be realized, a minimum of 48 schools – 25 percent from a different FHSAA administrative section – must commit to participate in the state championship series.

“I believe the ‘Categorization of Sports Policy’ is one of the best the Board has passed, because it clearly spells out the steps necessary for a sport to become sanctioned,” Commissioner Robert W. Hughes said. “Supporters of boys volleyball and girls flag football are taking advantage of this opportunity. We’re excited to see this process work for the benefit of our member schools.”

For the 2003 FHSAA State Boys Volleyball Series, schools will be permitted to play in a maximum of 28 matches, with the first practice on Monday, Feb. 10 (Week 32), first regular season playing date on Monday, Mar. 3 (Week 35), district tournaments on Saturday, Apr. 26 (Week 42), and FHSAA Florida Finals Play-in Matches, if necessary, on Tuesday, Apr. 29. The FHSAA Florida Boys Volleyball Finals will be held on Friday and Saturday, May 2-3.

For the 2003 FHSAA State Girls Flag Football Series, schools will be permitted to play a maximum of 12 regular season games, with the first practice on Monday, Mar. 17, first regular season playing date on Monday, Apr. 7, district tournaments on Saturday, May 17, and FHSAA Florida Finals Play-in Games, if necessary, on Tuesday, May 20. The FHSAA Florida Girls Flag Football Finals will be held on Friday and Saturday, May 23-24.

The Board of Directors also gave final 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 “two-sports-per-season” rule 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 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 other 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. 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.

In other business, the Board of Directors:
• Approved a recommendation from the Cross Country Advisory Committee to change the length of the course from three miles to five kilometers (3.1 miles) for both genders, effective with the 2002 season.
• Approved a recommendation from the Golf Advisory Committee to eliminate use of caddies from all divisions of play. The Board also adopted a recommendation prohibiting players’ use of motorized carts, pull carts or other use of vehicles.
• Appointed the following member school representatives to fill vacant delegate seats on the 2002 FHSAA Representative Assembly, which meets April 8-9 in Gainesville: Donald Johnson, Jefferson County (Monticello); Donnie Harrison, Columbia (Lake City); Dave Horner, Forest (Ocala); Jay Dougherty, Center Academy (Ormond Beach); Lynda Boyer, Manatee (Bradenton); Wayne Shimko, Lakeland Christian; Clyde Russell, John Carroll (Fort Pierce); Louise Crocco, Cardinal Gibbons (Fort Lauderdale); and Kip Cady, Princeton Christian.
• Appointed the following member school representatives to serve as at-large delegates on the 2002 FHSAA Representative Assembly: Josiah Bartley, Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville); Andrew Jenkins, Jones (Orlando); Bonita Holland, Rockledge; and Victor Lopez, Miami.
• Discussed the status of other emerging sports, including girls weightlifting and girls & boys bowling. A total of 118 schools reported having girls weightlifting programs, 116 having girls bowling programs and 75 having boys bowling programs. To date, however only 29 schools have submitted letters of petition requesting recognition status for girls weightlifting, while a mere 17 schools have submitted letters on behalf of girls & boys bowling. A minimum of 32 letters received within the same school year are needed for a sport to become eligible for recognition status. Member schools have until May 23 to get petition letters to the FHSAA Office for them to be considered by the Board of Directors this school year.

The Florida High School Activities Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletic competition in Florida. It has a membership of 660 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 Mar. 24-25, 2002 in Gainesville.

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