September 5, 2008
Following a successful experiment that allowed football coaches and referees throughout the state of Illinois to view their annual rules meeting on the internet, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) has announced that the 2008-09 rules meetings in the sports of boys basketball, girls basketball and boys wrestling will also be conducted via the internet.
Any rules meeting sites that have been previously posted in the sports of basketball or wrestling have been cancelled.
“Moving rules meetings online is an idea that has been materializing in our Association for quite some time,” said IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman. “We dubbed the initial online football meetings as an experiment and the results have been overwhelmingly positive. Conducting these meetings online has provided a number of benefits to all of the involved constituents aside from the obvious of limiting travel.”
Moving the football rules meeting online eliminated 40 sites that would have been used to host coaches and officials from regions throughout the state. The IHSA had 560 schools field football teams in 2007 and has licensed over 2,200 referees in the sport this season.
The IHSA worked with a production company to create a video that highlighted the rule changes for the 2008 football season as handed down by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). The video was then uploaded to the IHSA’s Schools Center and Officials Center, where coaches or referees used their personal password to log-on and view the film. Only after the video was viewed in its entirety did the coach or official receive their mandatory credit.
Rochelle head coach Kevin Crandall was one of over 1,900 coaches and officials who received credit for viewing the video online by the September 1 deadline. “I was very pleased with the online presentation,” said Crandall. “I thought it covered all the pertinent information in as thorough a manner as the live meeting. Also, with the hectic schedule at the beginning of the season and school year, it was nice to get it done during the day and not have to take an additional evening. I commend the IHSA for continuing to look for ways to make these processes more efficient for the member schools.”
Coaches and officials reported saving an average of 34.5 miles per person by holding the meetings online, which translated into over 67,000 total travel miles saved. Several schools reported that the online version allowed their entire staff to be updated simultaneously, instead of traditionally sending a single coach to the meeting.
“To be able to provide this service online and limit the travel of our members was a no-brainer in this situation,” said IHSA Assistant Executive Director and football administrator Dave Gannaway. “We have received several compliments from coaches and officials around the state and have the potential to make these rule videos even better moving forward.”
On Tuesday, October 14, the IHSA will release the dates that the basketball and wrestling rules meeting videos will be made available online.
Hickman added, “The quality of these meetings is of the utmost importance because of the implications they can have for coaches, officials and participants. As long as the quality of the internet rules meetings continue to meet the high standards of our coaches and officials, we will explore the option of using them in more sports.”