FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 18, 2002
Board of Directors votes to recognize boys & girls bowling, girls weightlifting; elects Burnside president
TAMPA – Boys & girls bowling and girls weightlifting became the fourth and fifth sports to be recognized by the Florida High School Activities Association since the categorization of sports policy was adopted in March 2000, after approval by the Board of Directors at their year-end meeting on June 14.
The Board also elected Miami Southridge High School athletic director Bob Burnside president for the 2002-03 school year. Orange Park High School principal Sam Ward was elected vice president.
Boys & girls bowling and girls weightlifting join girls flag football, boys volleyball and boys & girls water polo as the five sports that have gained recognition status in the last two years. The Association will kick off the inaugural FHSAA Florida Girls Flag Football Finals and FHSAA Florida Boys Volleyball Finals state championship events next year.
“We’ve prided ourselves on being able to respond effectively to our member schools’ needs,” said Commissioner Robert W. Hughes. “The Board’s adoption of the categorization of sports policy gave schools and supporters of emerging sports a method for getting a sport recognized and sanctioned. We are proud that this policy has worked to benefit the hard-working student athletes that compete in these five emerging sports.”
The Board of Directors also considered recommendations of the winter sports advisory committees and took the following action:
Basketball
• Approved a recommendation, upon National Federation approval, to deviate from the NFHS free-throw rule on a one-year experimental basis by allowing a maximum of six players in the lane – none in the bottom two lane spaces closest to the end line. The FHSAA will report on the experimental rule to the NFHS Basketball Rules Committee next spring.
• Approved a recommendation to allow the visiting school in a regional tournament contest to request up to 40 percent of the available tickets to be sold. The request must be made by noon of the day following the previous round, and any unsold tickets must be returned to the host school by noon the day of the game.
• Approved a recommendation to established guidelines for use of the public address system.
Soccer
• Approved a recommendation to modify the penalty for serious foul play when a player deliberately handles the ball to prevent a scoring opportunity when there is no contact with the opponent. The referee will issue a blue card to the player, who will be disqualified from the contest without substitution, but will no longer be subject to a two-game or seven-day suspension.
• Approved a recommendation to reduce the mercy rules goal differential from 10 to 8.
• Approved a recommendation to allow a player to move between the junior varsity and varsity teams with a one-day wait instead of three.
• Approved a recommendation that coaches in each district be recommended to submit a list of contest officials from their local officials associations for consideration in making state series assignments.
Wrestling
• Tabled a recommendation to implement a state dual team meet championship.
In other business, the Board of Directors:
• Gave preliminary approval to the FHSAA operating budget for the 2002-03 fiscal year.
• Approved a recommendation to increase the admission price to FHSAA Florida Finals events in the sports of cross country, swimming & diving and track & field to $7 and establish the admission prices for FHSAA State Series events in girls flag football and boys volleyball at $5 per session for district tournaments, $6 per session for Florida Finals first-round playoff contests and $7 per session for FHSAA Florida Finals events.
• Approved a recommendation to initiate a one-year pilot program in the sports of girls & boys basketball in which the following sanctioning fees will be charged host schools or organizations: preseason jamborees and classics, $200; invitational tournaments with seven or less teams, $250; invitational tournaments with eight or more teams, $500. The Association will not collect a percentage of the gross revenue in these events.
• Approved a recommendation to set the minimum fine and administrative fee that the Association can impose for any violation at $50.
• Approved a recommendation from the Officials Advisory Committee to modify the age of students wishing to participate in the Student Officials Program from 17-year-old seniors to 16-year-old high school students.
• Tabled a recommendation from the Athletic Directors Advisory Committee to modify the seeding process for the FHSAA State Football Series to seed each region using a true seeding formula without exceptions.
• Approved a recommendation from the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee to support legislation to revise verbiage of state statutes passed in 2001 by the state legislature dealing with preparticipation physical evaluation forms.
• Approved a recommendation from staff to amend the “Guidelines for Advisory Committees” as follows: define quorum as five members rather than two-thirds; increase the lengths of terms from two years to three years; stipulate that the committee chairperson is entitled to vote; and stipulate that the Commissioner will appoint a qualified individual from the represented group to fill a vacancy on an advisory committee for the duration of the unexpired term.
• Approved a recommendation to amend the “Policy on the Eligibility of Foreign Exchange and Other International Students” to stipulate that all international students, regardless of whether they came into this country with their parent or guardian, must comply with the provisions of the policy to be eligible for interscholastic competition.
• Approved a recommendation to amend the “Policy on Boarding Schools” to clarify that the resident students at boarding schools that do not comply with all provisions of the policy are not eligible to represent the school in interscholastic competition.
• Approved a recommendation to stipulate that the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) flag & touch football rules be the rules governing interscholastic competition in the sport of girls flag football.
• Appointed James Worley, principal of Belleview High School, to fill a vacant seat on the Section 2 Appeals Committee during the 2002-03 school year.
• Approved recommended guidelines for the FHSAA Hall of Fame selection process.
The Board of Directors’ Operations Committee again looked at three proposals submitted by the Commissioner to reduce contest limitations and began to look at a comprehensive revision to the FHSAA sports calendar.
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 Sept. 30, 2002 at the FHSAA Office in Gainesville.
Contact:
Jack Watford
Director of Communications, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 170
jwatford@fhsaa.org
