FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 4, 2004


Board approves hurricane-related modifications to football season

GAINESVILLE – The Florida High School Athletic Association Board of Directors today approved two modifications to the 2004 football season as a result of hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne.

Schools that do not advance to the playoffs and were not able to play 10 regular season games due to the storms will be allowed to schedule a "hurricane game" on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Saturday of the week of the first round of the playoffs. The Board also approved a system to be used in determining at-large playoff berths in regions impacted by the storms. The system will treat each region independently and will allow for the flexibility necessary to ensure that no school is adversely affected by its inability to play a full schedule.

"We did the best that we could do in making the best of a difficult situation," said Sam Ward, president of the Board of Directors and principal of Fleming Island High School. "The Board has a responsibility to look at the 'big picture' and do what is in the best interest of the membership as a whole."

The "hurricane game" will give many schools that do not make the playoffs the opportunity to give their student-athletes one additional game to play, as well as to recover some of the financial loss they incurred during the regular season. While the games will in no way affect the playoffs, they will count on the school's final win-loss record for the season. The FHSAA will not share in the revenue generated by these games.

The special system to determine at-large qualifiers in affected regions will work like this:
• Only those schools in the region with a win-loss record of .500 or better will be eligible for the region's at-large berths.
• The fewest number of total originally scheduled games played by any one of the at-large eligible teams will be the maximum number of games that can be counted for all the at-large eligible teams. Games will be counted backward from the last game played on Week 10. Games originally scheduled, postponed, and then made up at a later date will be counted in the week they were originally scheduled rather than in the week in which they are actually played.
• The teams with the most total victories in the games that can be counted will receive the at-large berths.
• If two or more teams are tied with the most total victories in the games that can be counted, and the tie cannot be broken on the basis of regular season head-to-head competition between the tied schools, an at-large tiebreaker will be played on Monday, Nov. 8. The same format as used to break ties for district champion and runner-up berths will be used.

The Board also consented to permit staff to approve the playing of district games on Week 10 in exceptional cases as a last resort. Schools that have exhausted all other options in making up district games may apply to the FHSAA Office for this special exception. In those districts where making up all district games is an impossibility, the special system to determine at-large qualifiers will be used to determine district champions and runners-up. In such cases, it will be the fewest number of district games played counting backward from Week 10 that will be considered.

"We listened to as much input as we could get, from organizations like the FIAAA (Florida Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association) and FACA (Florida Athletic Coaches Association) to the different county athletic directors and member school representatives," said Jeff Malloy, athletic director at Oak Hall School in Gainesville and chairman of the Board's operations committee. "We feel like we've found the best solutions everyone can embrace."

The Board passed two other motions relative to the hurricane-ravaged fall sports season. The Board expressed its reservation in extending fall sports into the winter sports season and voted to adhere to the published calendar. All state championship events and the playoffs that lead up to them will be conducted as originally scheduled. The Board also affirmed the waivers of regulations already implemented by staff and published on the FHSAA web site. These include the weekly contest limitations for each fall sport, as well as the requirement that teams and individual student-athletes compete in a minimum of four regular season contests in order to be eligible for state series competition.

"The process of dealing with all the sports, with plans evolving as each storm struck each different area, is an amazing task that people are having to deal with on all levels – from school board members to school district personnel to athletic directors and coaches. We all have to be community leaders," said Board member Tom Greer, president of the Florida School Boards Association, and a school board member from Osceola County, which was heavily affected by hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne. "There are a lot of teachers and coaches who have lost cars, homes and other possessions, but are still doing their job every day."

In other business, the Board of Directors:

• Approved a three-year contract for Dr. John A. Stewart's employment as Commissioner. The contract takes effect Jan. 15, 2005.

• Adopted a final operating budget for both the Athletic Association and FHSAA Land Corporation for the 2004-05 fiscal year.

• Approved a recommendation from the Softball Advisory Committee to revamp the format of the FHSAA Softball Finals, effective with the 2006 season. The new format will be the same as that used in the FHSAA Baseball Finals, in which two classifications play semifinals and championship games, one at a time, on Monday and Tuesday; the next two classifications on Wednesday and Thursday; and the final two classifications on Friday and Saturday.

• Approved a recommendation from the Weightlifting Advisory Committee to establish eight feet by eight feet square as the maximum dimensions of the inbounds competition area on platforms at FHSAA Finals state meets.

• Approved a recommendation to reschedule the January Sectional Appeals Committee meetings as follows: Section 1 in Tallahassee, Jan. 12; Section 2 in Ocala, Jan. 13; Section 3 in Bartow, Jan. 13; Section 4 in Fort Lauderdale, Jan. 14.

• Tabled for further study a recommendation from the Baseball Advisory Committee to amend the existing season limitations in baseball to permit a maximum of 25 playing dates rather than a maximum of 25 games.

• Tabled until its November meeting a recommendation from the Tennis Advisory Committee to revise the format of the FHSAA State Tennis Series to allow for advancement of champion and runner-up teams from district to regional matches, and for advancement of 16 teams to the FHSAA Tennis Finals state tournament.

• Conducted a blind draw to determine the district in each quadrant of the Inaugural FHSAA State Water Polo Series bracket whose champion will receive a first-round bye into the Inaugural FHSAA Water Polo Finals state quarterfinal games. Based on the draw, the champions from districts 2, 5, 8 and 11 will receive this year's byes. Byes in future years, if necessary, will be rotated.

• Conducted a blind draw to determine quarterfinal pairings in the Inaugural FHSAA Water Polo Finals. The pairings, in order, will be: the winner of the first-round play-in game between the District 1 and District 3 champions will play the District 8 champion; the District 2 champion will play the winner of the first-round play-in game between the District 10 and District 12 champions; the winner of the first-round play-in game between the District 7 and District 9 champions will play the District 5 champion; and the winner of the first-round play-in game between the District 4 and District 6 champions will play the District 11 champion.

• Conducted a blind draw to determine quarterfinal pairings in the 2005 FHSAA Flag Football Finals. The pairings, in order, will be: the winner of the first-round play-in game between the District 15 and District 16 champions will play the winner of the first-round play-in game between the District 7 and District 8 champions; District 13-14 play-in game winner will play the District 9-10 winner; District 11-12 winner will play the District 1-2 winner; and the District 3-4 winner will play the District 5-6 winner.

• Conducted a blind draw to determine quarterfinal pairings in the 2005 FHSAA Boys Volleyball Finals. The pairings, in order, will be: the winner of the first-round play-in match between the District 9 and District 10 champions will play the winner of the first-round play-in match between the champions of districts 3 and 4; the winner of districts 1 vs. 2 will play the winner of districts 13 vs. 14; the winner of districts 5 vs. 6 will play the winner of districts 11 vs. 12; and the winner of districts 15 vs. 16 will play the winner of districts 7 vs. 8.

• Heard a presentation on concepts for reclassification of member senior high schools. These include extending the traditional two-year classification period to a four-year period, which would consist of two 2-year scheduling cycles. Schools would continue to file a binding commitment to participate in team sports, but would be asked to file only a non-binding declaration of intent to participate in individual sports. Only those schools that had a 20-percent increase or decrease in population over the first two years of the four-year period would be considered for reclassification effective with the third year of the period. The extended classification period would provide schools with a greater opportunity to develop rivalries with district opponents and add greater integrity and stability to the scheduling process. The Board will vote on these concepts, as well as adopt a classification plan for all sports, at its November meeting.

The Florida High School Athletic Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletic competition in Florida. It has a membership of 725 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 Nov. 21-22, 2004 at the FHSAA headquarters in Gainesville.

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