January 15, 2007

TO: Superintendent of Schools

Secondary Principal

High School Athletic Directors

SUBJECT: School Time Issues, Tournament Sponsorship, Spectator Conduct,

Coaching Licensure, Sixth-Grade Participation

The Athletic Union Board of Directors addressed several topics at its January 12, 2007 meeting that need your immediate attention. While these topics are not necessarily related to one another, I hope you will find this letter to be a “catch-all” for addressing each of them.

Out-of-state travel and loss of school time. Any multiple-school competition held outside the state of Iowa requires your school to receive “sanction” prior to participation. One of the basic requirements to receive sanction is that no school time may be missed as a result of participation in a multiple-school event outside of Iowa. For example, we have become aware of at least one college-sponsored indoor track meet outside of Iowa that will start as early at 11 AM on a school day. Participation in meets such as this is not permitted if such participation will necessitate a loss of school time.

Local Track Meet Starting Times. The Athletic Union has lifted the requirement that a track meet start no earlier than 4:30 p.m. Local schools are allowed to determine meet starting times in track and field just as they are in the other nine sanctioned sports. It is the expectation of the Board of Directors that this will not result in an increased loss of school time. The Board of Directors does not, however, formally regulate loss of school time issues for regular season, in-state, school-sponsored competition. That is left to the discretion of the local district.

Tournament Sponsorship. There are an ever increasing number of non-school organizations, whether clubs, service organizations, business or even universities that are sponsoring regular season tournaments within Iowa. These events range from the long-standing Drake Relays, to jamborees sponsored by the local Kiwanis club, to local businesses hosting a basketball tournament for area schools. To date, these in-state events have needed no special sanction in order our member schools could compete.

However, as these events are not run by member schools, we are seeing rules governing student participation increasingly ignored. This includes blatant compromise of award rules which can adversely impact student eligibility. The Board of Directors asked management to develop a sanction process for in-state tournaments not hosted by member schools to ensure compliance with all Department of Education and IGHSAU regulations, and also to regulate loss of school time as a result of competition in these events.

In 2007-08 and beyond, non-school sponsored events MUST be sanctioned by the Athletic Union prior to participation by member schools. A list of sanctioned events will be posted on the IGHSAU web site. Participation by a member school in a non-sanctioned event in violation of this policy will result in forfeiture of contest(s) and potential sanction of school membership.

Management is currently discussing this policy with the staff of the Iowa High School Athletic Association prior to developing documentation for this in-state, non-school sanctioning.

Spectator Conduct. As schools suspend spectators for various acts of indiscretion, the Athletic Union has historically honored those suspensions. The Board had yet to adopt this policy as a part of its operations manual. It voted last week to adopt the following language which reflects the long-standing precedent of honoring spectator suspensions issued by a member school.

The Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union honors the suspension and/or banning of attendance of spectators by member schools.

Any individual suspended or banned from attendance at interscholastic contests by a member school shall be similarly suspended or banned from attendance at any IGHSAU sponsored district, regional or state tournament competition.

The Board of Directors directs member schools who suspend or ban a spectator from attendance to notify the State Office in writing of the suspension in order the Athletic Union may formally implement this policy.

Coaching Licensure. Historically, the Athletic Union has accepted an administrative certification as evidence enabling an individual to serve as a coach. Recently, we learned this policy is not consistent with the requirements of the Board of Educational Examiners. As a result, David Morgan has provided this interpretation for administrators who do not hold the coaching endorsement or a valid Iowa coaching authorization who wish to serve as a coach.

A Class B Two-Year Conditional License for the Coaching Endorsement will license the person to coach. The catch is that the coaching endorsement is a teaching endorsement and the Class B can only be issued if the administrator holds a valid teaching license in addition to his/her administrator license. Most administrators maintain their teaching license, but a few do not.

The Class B for the coaching endorsement is automatically issued by submitting the application and the $85.00 application fee. Transcript, program of study, etc. are not needed. The Class B allows the administrator to coach for a minimum of two years while the district looks for a licensed coach.

We appreciate this clarification from David, and direct you to his office for further interpretation if necessary.

It should be noted that the Athletic Union will allow a certified administrator to step-in to assume coaching responsibilities during a contest should a licensed coach no longer be present due to ejection, etc. which would otherwise result in forfeiture of a contest.

Sixth-Grade Participation. A number of smaller schools have attempted to use sixth-grade students to fill out rosters for middle-school basketball teams this winter. Although this is clearly delineated as illegal in the junior high sports manual, the Board of Directors reiterated that sixth grade students may not compete interscholastically against students who are in grades 7 or 8.

At the conclusion of a student’s sixth grade year (or May 28, 2007, whichever comes first), the student is eligible to participate against 7^th or 8^th graders, just as an 8^th grader is eligible for interscholastic competition against 9th-12^th graders at the conclusion of her school year (or May, 28,2007, whichever comes first).

While the terms middle school and junior high mean different things to different districts, for athletic eligibility purposes, middle school and/or junior high includes only grades 7 and 8.

Three Officials. This is the year that the IGHSAU will assign three officials to all district, regional and state tournament games. Schools retain the option to hire two or three for regular season games, but all must be licensed.

Many existing contracts between schools and officials, signed as long as five years ago, were for two officials. That crew of two officials is often bringing an un-contracted, third member of their crew. Two things for schools to remember are: 1) Make sure the third, un-contracted official, is licensed. There has been at least one forfeiture this season as a result of the third official not holding a proper license. 2) Schools are under no obligation to accept or pay a third, un-contracted official. While many schools permit the original two-person crew to split the contracted amount three ways, this is done solely by local option.

A final recommendation…if an un-contracted third official shows up unannounced the night of a game, do not allow that person to work. You place your school in jeopardy if you haven’t had time to properly determine licensure status. An hour before the game is not the time to do this. In addition, it should be a requirement at your school to place all officials, including the third official, under contract prior to permitting his/her working at your school.

Should you need additional clarification on any of the subjects included in this memorandum, please contact me directly. Best of luck to everyone as we wrap up winter sports and head towards spring.

Sincerely,

Troy Dannen
Executive Director