CHSAA Legislative Council Meets January 30

***Press Release***

Annual Hall of fame Banquet Slated for January 29

Aurora, Colo. – The first of two Colorado High Activities Association Legislative Council Meetings is slated for Thursday, January 30, at the Red Lion Inn in Aurora, located at I-225 and Parker Road. The Meeting will be at 8:30 a.m. and will be aired lived on CHSAA.tv as part of the NFHS Network.

The CHSAA Hall of Fame will induct its 25^th class the night before at the same site, starting at 6:30 p.m. The CHSAA Silver Anniversary Hall of Fame Class includes student-participants Jerome Biffle (Denver East), Tonya Beaber (Deer Trail) and Mark Randall (Cherry Creek). They are joined by three coaches, including current Granada coach Manuel Gonzales, former Fairview coach Sam Pagano and former Cheyenne Mountain coach Mike Provenzano. Long-time Sterling-area administrator and official Bob Plank, Grand Junction schools music educator Gary Ambrosier, Canon City speech coach and student leadership advisor Pauline Carochi, and the 1979 Evergreen girls’ volleyball team round out the 10 inductees that make up the Class of 2013.

Prior to the CHSAA Hall of Fame dinner, the CHSAA Board of Directors will be meeting at the hotel, starting at 8:00 a.m.

The CHSAA Legislative Council is the body that determines the rules for the student participants in the state of Colorado and its 70 members represent all the individual athletic conferences, along with representatives from the Colorado Association of School Boards, Colorado Athletic Directors Association and Colorado Association of Secondary School Administrators. They will be voting on one constitutional proposal, five administrative proposals and four sports/activities proposals, along with three administrative committee reports, one activities committee report and 10 sport committee reports. In addition, the Legislative Council will hear nominations to replace members on the Board of Directors.

All Proposals and Committee reports that will be voted on can be found on the CHSAA website (www.CHSAANow.com) under School Info. The following are brief descriptions of the agenda items:

Constitutional Proposals (requires 2/3 majority vote to pass)

C-1 – Specialized Sports Training Schools – This proposal would not allow schools that offer any type of specialized sports training to be a member of the Association.  A second rule change would prohibit any student participant at a school of this sort from participation at any CHSAA member school. (Submitted by the Board of Directors)

Administrative Proposals – (Requires majority vote to pass, unless otherwise noted)

ADM-1 – 2014-2016 Classification of Schools – This by-law proposal impacts four sections of the Classification and League Organization rules. Language added to by-law 1500.grants the Legislative Council the authority to increase the number of base classifications based on the growth of the CHSAA membership. The change to 1500.11 would allow for classification to be increased based upon the number of schools participating in a given sport. Proposed changes to 1500.21 would allow the CLOC to consider mitigating factors for placing schools in classification once the classification figures are determined. Called Equity Consideration Factors, these include socio-economic status of the school, school demographics, geography, a school’s participation rate, a school’s enrollment trend and competitive history, along with the entry or selection process for the school’s student body. The CLOC could recommend that a school in the lower 10% of a larger classification be placed in the next lower class based on these factors. (Submitted by the Board of Directors)

ADM-2 – Classification of Schools – The proposal addresses by-law 1500.27 and adjusts the play down criteria needed to play in a classification smaller than what a school’s enrollment places them. The proposal eliminates one set of criteria and replaces that with a notation that says “the team playing down will not be eligible for post-season consideration in the classification in which they are playing down.” (Submitted by the Western Slope League)

ADM-3 – Hazing and Documentation – This proposal requires a signed documentation that a student and his/her parents affirm their responsibility in preventing and reporting hazing incidents. The signed documentation must on file with the school prior to the student’s participation. (Submitted by Board of Directors)

ADM-4 – Sunday Contact – An often-addressed by-law, this proposal would allow coaches to have contact with their players on Sunday outside the high school sports season for competition only (this would prohibit practice. (Submitted by the Frontier League)

ADM-5 – Scrimmages – This proposal would allow schools to schedule scrimmages after the fifth day of practice, but would maintain that football teams could not scrimmage until the 10^th day after the start of practice. (Submitted by Jeffco, Southwestern, Centennial, East Metro)

Sports/Activities Proposals

S-1 – Basketball Maximum Number of Contests – This proposal would drop the number of regular season contests that 4A schools can play from 23 to 19. It would allow the 5A schools to maintain their regular season limit of 23. It maintains the wording of the by-law that limits Classes 1A, 2A and 3A to 19 games. (Submitted by the Northern League)

Editor’s Note: The results from a survey of all CHSAA basketball schools are posted at www.CHSAANow.com and address the question of game limits by classification.

S-2 – Fall Sports Seasons Starting Dates – This proposal recommends starting the fall competitive season six days earlier. For those familiar with Zero Week, this would open that week to competition for all sports without the need for permission. The proposal allows for increased flexibility in scheduling. It impacts cross country, football, field hockey, gymnastics, boys’ soccer, spirit and volleyball. (Submitted by Jeffco, Southwestern Centennial, East Metro)

S-3 – Spirit Season of Sport – This proposal would not allow CHSAA schools to host official spirit team try-outs until after Memorial Day. (Submitted by the Colorado Springs Metro)

S-4 – Volleyball Maximum Matches Team – This proposal is recommending cutting the number of volleyball matches from 23 to 19.  (Submitted by the Northern League)

There are no Activities proposals.

Administrative Committees

Budget/Property Administration Committee (First reading) – The Budget committee is recommending a freeze on participation fees for the 2015-16 and reported that there would be no refund given to schools in May 2014 as a result of a Board of Directors decision. The CHSAA Board directed the $33,732 be used to assist the We Are CHSAA anti-hazing and inclusion program. The Committee reported that $34,510 was reimbursed to schools to cover 100% travel costs for those sports that could not be reimbursed and that there was a refund of $102,423 given in May 2013 as a result of the operating profit from 2011-12.

Classification and League Organization Committee – The committee made its recommendation for the classification numbers for the 2014-2016 competitive cycle. Recommendations were made for membership for Caprock Academy (Grand Junction), DSST-Green Valley Ranch (Denver) and Venture Preparatory School (Denver). The committee approved a number of play down requests and league changes, along with approving several programs for enrollment exemptions. The following schools were approved to play down in specific sports: Adams City (football), Alameda (football), Antonito (football), Aurora Central (football), Boulder (softball), Centaurus (volleyball), Central GJ (football), CIVA Charter (boys’ & girls’ basketball, volleyball), Denver North (football), Dolores Huerta (girls’ basketball), Greeley Central (softball), Greeley West )boys’ soccer), Miami Yoder (football), Mitchell (football), Montbello (girls’ soccer), Montezuma-Cortez (soccer, football), Nederland (football), Niwot (football), Rifle (boys’ & girls’ soccer), Roosevelt (boys’ soccer), Skyline (softball), South Park (football).

The request approved for schools moving leagues includes: Broomfield (Northern to Front Range), Conon City (South Central to Colorado Springs Metro), Classical Academy (Tri-Peaks to CSML), Ellicott (Tri-Peaks to Black Forest), Highland (Patriot to Mile High), Holy Family (Metro to Tri-Valley), Littleton (Continental to Jeffco), Lyons (Patriot to Mile High) Manzanola (Southeastern to High Plains), Northridge (Tri-Valley to Northern), Skyview Academy (Independent to Metro), South Baca (Southeastern to Arkansas Valley), Swallows Academy (Independent to Santa Fe), Twin Peaks Charter (Independent to Mile High), Valor Christian (Independent to 5A Jeffco), Vanguard (Black Forest to Tri-Peaks).  Clear Creek (Frontier), Heritage Christian (Mile High), Longmont Christian (Mile High), Sierra Grande (Southern Peaks) all changed in classification but have remained in the same league.

Officials Fees Committee – There are no major changes proposed.

Student Leadership – No major changes proposed.

Sports Committees

Baseball – The Baseball Committee is recommending a change in the Wild Card Points accrued by out-of-state schools, along with a reduction in the loss points for the Wild Card Points table. The committee is requesting that these changes be made effective immediately to help the 2014 season. The committee adjusted the playoff formats in all classes and established playoff qualification procedures for Liberty Common (3A), SkyView Academy (3A), Ponderosa (4A) and Valor Christian (4A).

Cross Country – The committee is recommending changing the 3A scoring to Run 7, Score 5, and in 2A to Run 6, Score 3.

Field Hockey – Recommendations from the committee include moving the finals date to the Saturday of the 9^th week of play, rather than the Monday of the 10^th week.

Football – The committee made recommendations for the football conferences and then made changes in playoff formats that include: A6 – Week 9 Crossover teams will be ranked 1-16 by Wild Card Points; A8 – Teams will play a 9-week schedule and begin playoffs on Week 10; 1A – The higher seed team will host the playoff game if both teams have an equal number of previous home games; 3A – A 3A team that plays a 5A school it will now receive 4A Wild Card Points, in addition to the state championship game being played at the highest seed; 5A – The top 32 qualifiers will be selected and seeded by a committee of administrators, one from each conference. In 5A, the higher seed will also host if both schools have already hosted a playoff game in a previous round.

Golf – The committee modified its coaching rule to have the coach 10 yards from the greens surface once a player reaches the green to putt. The spectator policy was amended to keep a minimum 10-yard distance from the players on the fairway. 5A league schools will secure regional sites and determine the host school 30 days prior to the regional tournament. Finally, only coaches with a handicap document/sticker or doctor’s note may have a cart during the state tournament.

Gymnastics – Class 4A will qualify the top all-around performer, not on a qualifying team, from each region and then the next nine regardless of region, according to recommendations from the committee. The regional meets will all be held on Saturday, October 24, and 7^th and 8^th place ribbons will be awarded at state.

Soccer – The committee established the format needed in Girls 2A which starts in 2015, and changed the 3A bracket from a 32-team to a 24-team event. The committee adjusted its seeding criteria to include League Finish, MaxPreps rankings, League Poll which will look at head-to-head competition and common opponents. The regular season finishes will be honored and geography will be considered when placing teams seeded 24-32.

Softball – The committee is recommending reducing 3A qualifiers from 24 to 18 and changes to all classes seeding. Class 3A seeding will guarantee that the 6 regional champions are seeded 1-6, while in 4A and 5A, the committee refined the seeding criteria.

Tennis – Hosts for 5A Boys’ and Girls’ will be determined by league finish and each league much secure two regional sites, according to recommendations from the committee. The committee also adjusted regional assignments and noted that only teams that qualify four or more players to state are eligible for the state team championship competition.

Volleyball – The major changes that came from the committee include altering the order of matches at the state tournament and changes in the seeding for 1A and 2A.

The Legislative Council will start at 8:30 a.m. with its traditional Speak Out session where members of the public may ask to speak to the Legislative Council on pertinent issues. Speakers are limited to five minutes and may gain access to the podium by contacting CHSAA’s Bethany Brookens (303) 344-5050 by Friday, January 17 at 4:00 p.m.