January 15, 2002
A state tournament series in boys bowling to begin in the 2002-03 (next) school term was approved by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors at its regular meeting Tuesday (Jan. 15).
The tournament series will be conducted in the winter sport season. Terms and Conditions for the series will be developed through the Bowling Advisory Committee. IHSA member schools approved implementing a sports season in boys bowling in the recent annual fall referendum process. Member schools approved a by-law establishing a boys bowling season 341-97. The season begins Monday of Week No. 17 in the National Federation Standardized Calendar (Oct. 28 in 2002) and ends in Week No. 30 (Feb. 1, 2003).
The Board also approved Terms and Conditions for the inaugural state series in boys and girls Water Polo. The tournament series will be conducted concurrently. The combined State Final Tournament will be held at Lincolnshire (Stevenson) during after school hours Wednesday-Saturday, May 8-11, 2002.
In addition, the Board received the strategic planning action team report from the Promotions/Special Events action team and heard a progress report from the Public/Private action team.
Advisory Committee Action
The Board of Directors acted on recommendations from nine Advisory Committees Tuesday.
"Our advisory committees meet on an annual basis, usually soon after the completion of the state series in that sport or activity," said IHSA Executive Director Dave Fry. "Each advisory committee assesses the terms and conditions for its state tournament series, and all other facets of the sport or activity which may apply to the site of its state final event, and which may apply during the regular season."
Following is a recap of Board action regarding each of the committee reports and Terms and Conditions recommendations:
Cross Country
1. Approved a recommendation to combine the Boys Terms and Conditions and the Girls Terms and Conditions into one set of Cross Country Terms and Conditions.
2. Approved a recommendation to conduct the Awards Ceremony at the Peoria Civic Center for another year.
3. Approved a recommendation to change the minimum race distance from 2.25 miles to 2.75 miles and the maximum length distance from 2.75 miles to 3.12 miles (5K) for the regionals and sectionals in girls cross country. Also approved a recommendation to change the state final race distance from 2.5 miles to 3.0 miles.
4. Approved a recommendation to change the maximum race distance to 3.12 miles (5K) for the regionals and sectionals in boys cross country.
5. Did not approve a recommendation to implement computer chip scoring at the state final meet.
6. Did not approve a recommendation to increase the boys/girls cross country entry fee from $50 per school to $75.
7. Did not approve a recommendation establishing a replacement fee of $30 each for computer scoring chips not returned by competitors and their school at the state final meet.
8. Approved a recommendation to drop the "neck of the chute" as one of the places where splits will be called. The neck of the chute is the finish line unless there is computer chip scoring. The final time for a runner is recorded at the finish line.
9. Did not approve a recommendation to change the host school fee to become a flat fee for hosting both races. The fee for regionals would be $450 and the fee for sectionals would be $800.
10. Did not approve a recommendation to change the fee paid to the referee/starter to per race fees as follows: Regional $25 per race, Sectional $35 per race, State Final $25 per race.
Football
1. Approved a recommendation that all film exchanges, which are required of each participating, team, be completed by noon on Monday (preceding the upcoming game).
2. Did not approve a recommendation to conduct a meeting of personnel from all state championship game teams on Monday preceding the title games.
3. Approved a recommendation to change the ticket pricing for the championship games to a $10 general admission ticket that entitles the bearer to watch all four games each day. In addition, the starting times for the games would be adjusted to provide for the games to be played on a continuous basis. The first game each day would begin at 10:00 a.m. and the succeeding games each day would follow immediately after the conclusion of the trophy presentations of the preceding game.
4. Did not approve a recommendation to bracket the playoffs classes in two 16-team brackets rather than in four quadrants.
5. Did not approve a recommendation to provide trophies to the teams losing the semifinal games rather than the plaque they now receive.
6. Approved a recommendation to pair first-round games by true seed regardless of whether the schools play in the same conference or met in the final week of the regular season.
Officials
1. Tabled a recommendation to keep conference assignor top 15 rating lists of officials as part of the criteria used in rating officials.
2. Tabled a series of recommendations to increase officials fees in all levels of competition in all sports, to increase the fee structure for rules interpreters, and to increase the fee structure for certified clinicians.
3. Tabled a recommendation to increase the housing allowance from two to three nights for state final officials in basketball, soccer, wrestling, girls volleyball, baseball and softball.
4. Tabled a recommendation to increase the flat fee paid to the Head Official at state tournaments where one is authorized to $125 per day and to increase the housing allowance to three nights.
Boys/Girls Golf
1. Did not approve a recommendation to expand girls golf to two classes.
2. Did not approve a recommendation to increase the number of regionals feeding the sectional in girls and Class A boys golf by one.
3. Approved a recommendation allow the local manager to utilize shotgun starts in boys/girls golf if approved by the IHSA Office. Weather conditions or the size of the tournament field would be factors considered in making a decision to seek permission to use the shotgun start.
4. Did not approve a recommendation in boys/girls golf to provide for rescheduling of state series competition due to postponement because of weather.
5. Approved a recommendation to clarify the procedure to use in boys/girls golf at the regional and/or sectional when play is cancelled. It will resume the next playable day excluding Sunday.
6. Did not approve a recommendation to conduct a long drive competition involving qualifiers for the state final tournament in boys/girls golf.
7. Did not approve a recommendation in boys/girls golf establishing a procedure for tee times in the regional and sectional. The procedure has the lowest scorers to mid-rage teeing off on hole No. 1 and the highest scorers to mid-range teeing off No. 10 at the regional. The procedure has the mid-rage to lowest scorers teeing off No. 1 and the mid-range to highest scorers teeing off No. 10 at the sectionals.
Sports Medicine
1. Approved a recommendation to create a Sports Medicine page on the IHSA Web Site.
2. Did not approve a recommendation to provide team bench access to Certified Trainers accompanying their school team at the state final.
Boys/Girls Volleyball
1. Approved a recommendation in boys/girls volleyball to adopt the sectional complex structure for the state series.
2. Approved a recommendation in boys volleyball to change the state final time schedule. Quarterfinal sessions on Friday will begin at 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Semifinal session Saturday will begin at 10:00 a.m. The final session Saturday will begin at 4:00 p.m.
3. Approved a recommendation regarding videotaping by competing schools in state series competition. Local managers must be able to provide an area for personnel from the competing schools to videotape, if they request the space. Non-competing schools and spectators will be allowed to videotape matches in the stands provided they do not obstruct the view of participants or spectators.
4. Did not approve a recommendation in boys/girls volleyball to allow for seeding meetings to be conducted using fax.
Boys/Girls Tennis
1. Approved a recommendation in boys/girls tennis to maximize the time coaches may use during each match to coach their players.
2. Did not approve a recommendation in boys/girls tennis to implement the sectional complex structure for the state series.
3. Approved a recommendation in boys/girls tennis that no more than 32 players in singles and doubles be seeded for the state final.
Sportsmanship
1. Approved a recommendation that IHSA and the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) sponsor three Leadership/Sportsmanship Summits during the 2002-03 school term.
2. Approved a recommendation that the Codes of Conduct developed by the Sportsmanship/Ethics Advisory Committee for coaches, players, parents and fans be included in the Sportsmanship Manual. These codes may be used as reference material when a member school is developing its own Codes of Conduct.
3. Approved a recommendation that Sportsmanship information be discussed at all rules interpretation meetings.
4. Tabled a recommendation that IHSA join Liferide, a non-profit company founded by motivational speaker Eddie Slowikowski, to offer a summer camp for students from member schools who want to expand their sportsmanship/leadership skills.
Eligibility Decisions
1. The Board sustained the Executive Director's ruling that a student is ineligible at Bluffs in basketball for the remainder of the current season for non-compliance with transfer by-law 3.042. The student transferred from Havana to Bluffs on November 26, 2001.
2. The Board sustained the Executive Director's ruling that a student is ineligible at Chicago (Julian) for violation of recruiting by-law 3.070 and its subsections. The student is an exchange student under the auspices of the American International Youth Student Exchange Program.