IHSA Announcement

February 13, 2006

Board Acts on Advisory Committee Recommendations

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors acted on recommendations for Terms and Conditions and administrative procedures from five advisory committees at its regular January meeting Monday in the IHSA Office.

"Our advisory committees meet on an annual basis, usually soon after the completion of the state series in that sport or activity," noted IHSA Executive Director Dr. Martin L. Hickman. "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 the Board action Monday:

Cross Country

  1. Approved a recommendation to adjust the deadline for the online list of participants from 4:15 pm on Tuesday to 4:15 on Monday prior to the regional meet.
  2. Approved a recommendation that, as a precaution, the host school of a regional or sectional meet must use a video camera and provide some method of viewing the video at the finish line.

Football

  1. Approved a recommendation requiring that school bands not play during live ball situations.
  2. Rejected a recommendation that all Saturday playoff games start between 1 and 4 pm.

Golf

  1. Approved a recommendation that allows a school to provide someone other than the head coach to serve as its observer during state series competition.  This will allow the coach to provide advice to his or her players during competition, but only between green and tee.
  2. Approved a recommendation that the state final rules committee be composed of golf officials from a bona fide rules organization.
  3. Approved a recommendation that prohibits players from listening to music or using cell phones during competition, or using devices that may assist in making a stroke or measuring distance.
  4. Approved a recommendation that the tee times for Saturday's state final round be based on Friday's tee times.  The first score in on Friday will have the latest tee time on Saturday.
  5. Approved a recommendation that a sudden death playoff for the medalist position at the regional or sectional level be started on any hole determined by the host school manager.

Tennis

  1. Approved a recommendation that all matches at the state tournament in the championship bracket use regular scoring instead of no-ad scoring.
  2. Rejected a recommendation that teams qualifying for the state final be able to shuffle their lineup (singles and doubles) provided they do not change the qualifying participants.

Volleyball

  1. Approved a recommendation that in cases where a sectional host site is not centrally located, a substitute site may be designated for the sectional seeding meeting.

Other Action

  1. The Board approved a recommendation to assess no membership dues for the 2006-07 school year.
  2. At its January meeting, the Board requested that the IHSA staff conduct a compliance audit of Chicago (Hales Franciscan) High School, which had failed to maintain its required ISBE certification for over two years.  The staff found that Hales Franciscan was substantially in compliance in all respects.  The Board accepted the report and took no further action.
  3. The Board approved an exception to the by-laws to allow the Chicago Public Schools city championship baseball game to be held on June 12, 2006, two days after the baseball season ends.  The championship game is traditionally played at a major league park, but no date was available until June 12.

Discussion Items

At each meeting of the Board of Directors, there are certain agenda items that the Board discusses, but upon which it takes no action.  Following is a report of those items on this month’s agenda:

Report of the Auditor:  The Board heard a report from representatives of Clifton Gunderson, Certified Public Accountants, on the audit of the Association's financial records for the 2004-05 fiscal year.  The report states in part that "in all material respects, the financial position of the Illinois High School Association as of June 30, 2005, and 2004, and the changes in its net assets and its cash flows for the years then ended, are in conformity with accounting principals generally accepted in the United States of America."

Review of State Legislative Initiatives:  The Board received an update on the status of the bill and resolutions that were proposed in the Illinois House of Representatives by Rep. Kurt M. Granberg.

Partnership with Illinois State Police and Country Insurance: The Board heard a report on a new initiative to partner with the Illinois State Police and Country Insurance to promote safe driving, seat-belt use, and zero tolerance for underage drinking.

New Committees: The Board heard that three committees will be formed in the near future to examine issues identified through the recent membership survey and the Athletic Administrators Advisory Committee.  The topics will be the seeding and grouping policy, the feasibility of online seeding, and host allowances and reimbursements for schools hosting IHSA state series competitions.

Document Retention Policy:  The Board heard a report on the development of a document retention policy that would cover electronic as well as written communication.