IHSA Announcements

October 15, 1996

Dennis Garber Elected President of Board of Directors

BLOOMINGTON — Hoffman Estates (H.S.) principal Dennis Garber was elected president of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors at its regular October meeting Tuesday (Oct. 15) at the IHSA Office.

Garber, who becomes the 29th person to serve the Association as its president, has been a member of the Board since 1993. He has been vice president since 1994. Elected vice president was William Wright, Savanna principal, and Mt. Zion principal Greg Bradley was elected secretary. Collinsville principal Ron Ganschinietz serves as the appointed treasurer of the Association.

Election of officers came after the canvass of ballots in this year's Board elections. Garber, Wright and Gary Collins of Monmouth (H.S.) all were re-elected to the Board for three-year terms. Appointed by the Board to fill the vacancy in Division No. 1 was Chicago (Manley) principal Katherine Flanagan. She succeeds Linda Layne, who resigned from the Board after taking an administrative position in the Chicago Board of Education Office. Other members of the Board are Roxana principal Patrick Sullivan, and Downers Grove (South) principal Craig Zeck.

Public/Private Task Force Reports To Board

The Task Force on Public/Private School Issues met for the ninth and final time Tuesday, prior to a joint meeting with the IHSA Board of Directors. The Task Force submitted its report and recommendations to the Board for its consideration.

"The members of the Task Force unanimously agreed that our package of recommendations is complete," said Board of Directors member Gary Collins, Monmouth (H.S.) principal, who chaired the Task Force. "Act One is over; the Task Force is history. Act Two begins shortly. The curtain has not fallen on the work of the Task Force."

The Board of Directors is scheduled to meet at the Wyndham Hamilton Hotel in Itasca Tuesday (Oct. 22) at 11:00 a.m. to react to a preliminary review of the Task Force package by legal counsel. A press conference will follow at 2:30 p.m.. Collins is scheduled to review the report of the Task Force to the Board of Directors, and discuss the series of by-law proposals to be presented to the IHSA Legislative Commission. He will be joined by IHSA Executive Director Dave Fry and other members of the Task Force. The press conference will be held in the Hampton Room on the hotel's second floor. The annual Illinois Principals Association (IPA) Fall Conference is being conducted in the hotel from Sunday through Tuesday, and the IHSA sponsors a breakfast Tuesday morning for conference attendees.

Terms and Conditions Approved; Two-Class Boys Soccer Okayed

A recommendation to institute a two-class system in boys soccer was among Terms and Conditions changes approved by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors at its regular October meeting Tuesday (Oct. 15) in the IHSA Office.

While complete plans for operating a two-class state series remain to be finalized, the Board of Directors approved the Soccer Advisory Committee recommendations to conduct the tournaments simultaneously, with both State Final Tournaments to be held on Friday and Saturday of Week No. 18 in the IHSA Standardized Calendar. Next year's boys soccer state finals will be played the weekend of Nov. 7-8.

"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 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."

Recommendations and/or reports from six advisory committees were acted upon by the Board. Following is a recap of the Board action Tuesday:

Boys/Girls Soccer

  1. Approved recommendations to implement a two-class state series in boys soccer beginning with the 1997-98 (next) school year, to use the sectional feeding through a correlated super-sectional structure for each tournament series, and to play both state final tournaments on the Friday and Saturday of Week No. 18 in the IHSA Standardized Calendar.
  2. Tabled a recommendation to pay the expenses of a third official at the regional games if schools choose to use the diagonal system.
Girls Badminton

  1. Received the minutes of the advisory committee meeting. There were no recommendations regarding the state series Terms and Conditions.
Boys/Girls Track and Field

  1. Approved use of fully automatic times (FAT Times) to the nearest thousandth of a second, reflecting a change in the National Federation Track and Field Rules.
  2. Approved a change in the procedure for breaking ties in the high jump and pole vault to use only misses, reflecting a change in the National Federation Track and Field Rules.
  3. Approved changes in the qualifying marks for both the girls and boys state final meets. Those changes are: Class A Boys — 10:10.0 in the 3200 run, :51.9 in the 400 dash and 3:32.0 in the 1600 relay; Class AA Boys — 8:06.0 in the 3200 relay and 4:26.0 in the 1600 run; Class A Girls — :16.5 in the 100 high hurdles, 1:52.5 in the 800 relay and 33-0 in the triple jump; Class AA Girls — 11:37.0 in the 3200 run and 35-0 in the triple jump.
News Media

  1. Received the minutes of the advisory committee meeting. There were no recommendations regarding state series Terms and Conditions or the Television, Broadcast, Credential and/or Information Policies.
Girls Softball

  1. Approved changes in the playing schedule to provide that Class A preliminary games be played on Monday of Week No. 46 and that Class AA preliminary games be played on Monday or Tuesday of Week No. 47 in the IHSA Standardized Calendar.
  2. Approved playing the Class A sectional final on Monday of Week No. 48, moving the schedule for the game ahead one day.
  3. Approved changes in the State Final time schedule to start the third place game at 5:00 p.m. and the championship game at 7:00 p.m. in both the Class A and Class AA State Finals.
  4. Approved that the IHSA Office assign crews consisting of three umpires to the sectional tournaments.
  5. Did not approve a recommendation to increase fees paid umpires to $35.00 for the regional and $40.00 for the sectional.
Boys Baseball

  1. Approved changes in the state final quarterfinal game starting times as follows: Game No. 1 at 10:00 a.m., Game No. 2 at 12:30 p.m., Game No. 3 at 3:00 p.m. and Game No. 4 at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
  2. Approved giving home team privileges to the top-seeded teams in the regional preliminary and quarterfinal round games. Previously, the home teams in these games, which were hosted by the highest-seeded team, were determined by coin flip. In addition, all home teams in each State Final game will be determined by flip of a coin at a meeting of coaches Thursday prior to the start of each respective State Final.
  3. Approved that the IHSA Office assign crews consisting of three umpires to the sectional tournaments.
  4. Did not approve a recommendation to increase fees paid umpires to $35.00 for the regional and $40.00 for the sectional
  5. Did not approve an administrative recommendation that facilities with lights be given first priority as sectional sites.
  6. Tabled an administrative recommendation that a Home Run Derby individual skill competition be pursued, with a target for implementation of the spring of 1998 as a starting date, until a plan for conducting it can be generated.

Strategic Planning

The Board adopted a new mission statement and the strategies created by the Strategic Planning Team, which met in its initial planning session Sept. 13-15. The planning process at the initial session allowed for broad based involvement in the goal setting process, leading to strategies which meet the needs and desires of IHSA member schools. The Association is now seeking volunteers for Action Teams, which will be created to form action plans to implement the respective strategies. Persons interested in service on an Action Team may contact the IHSA Office.

The following was approved by the Board as the IHSA Mission Statement:
The IHSA serves member schools by providing leadership for equitable participation in interscholastic activities that enrich the educational experience.
The strategies are broadly stated means of deploying resources to fulfill the Association's mission.
IHSA will:
  1. Increase the number of registered officials in the State of Illinois.
  2. Review and establish training programs for officials.
  3. Increase the number of women and minorities in all entities of the IHSA.
  4. Review present and future facility needs.
  5. Review present and future staffing needs.
  6. Review current educational and informational programs sponsored by the IHSA and increase attendance by official representatives.
  7. Review sportsmanship programs and increase participation by member schools.
  8. Provide more equitable promotion and recognition of interscholastic activities.
  9. Increase the number of participation opportunities for students in IHSA interscholastic activities.
  10. Increase and improve two-way communication between the IHSA office and its member schools.
  11. Review the problems associated with out-of-season participation in interscholastic activities.

Other Action

The Board took the following action regarding the general business of the Association:
  1. Received the annual Association audit by the firm Clifton, Gunderson and Company.
  2. As required by the IHSA Constitution, reviewed the structure of the Board of Directors Divisions and Legislative Commission Districts and made no change in the current assignment of member schools to them.

Discussion Items

At each meeting of the Board of Directors, there are certain agenda items which the Board discusses but upon which it takes no action. Following is a report of those on the October 1996, agenda:
  1. Unsportsmanlike Conduct: The Board received a report of mandatory ejections from the fall sports through Oct. 14. To date, there have been 344 player or coach ejections for unsportsmanlike conduct reported to the IHSA Office. By sport they are: girls golf 1, fall baseball 2, girls volleyball 5, boys football 144 and boys soccer 192.
  2. Amendment Proposals: The Board heard a report of proposals received in the IHSA Office, other than those generated by the Task Force on Public/Private Schools. Deadline for submission of proposals for the 1996-97 legislative process was Oct. 15. Subject matter of these proposals includes: basketball team game and tournament limits, girls volleyball team match and tournament limits, school strikes; and camp and coaching clinic prohibitions.
  3. Eligibility Rulings: The Board received a report of eligibility rulings thus far this school year. Of the 660 since July 1, 249 were transfer rulings and 283 were residence rulings.