(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

AURORA — The CHSAA baseball committee and CHSAA ad-hoc baseball pitching committee agree that arm overuse in baseball is a serious issue in Colorado and the rest of the country.

It has been discussed at all levels of the sport. All levels of the sport have begun to take action to address this epidemic of arm overuse. It is not a life-threatening problem, but it is a life-altering issue that many players are facing.

The biggest challenge is mandating the rest that those arms need and that is what this new rule does.

This is a significant change in philosophy and will be challenging to implement. It may require addressing some schedule changes for schools with limited pitching staffs, as well. It most certainly will require the way baseball programs look at pitching, but the change is about doing what we can to provide your players with a safe playing environment.

Here are some quick points that need to be considered:

• This is a player health issue that the entire sport is having to address – pre-Little League and Little League, Legion, Connie Mack, NCAA, MLB – all levels. As Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan wrote, "It’s too late to save this generation. At the highest levels of research into the pitching arm, almost all the top minds agree that baseball for the next decade, and probably more, is going to be a non-stop parade of injuries, disappointments and bewilderment. This horrifies them. It should."
• The Baseball Committee is recommending these limits based on the experience of the coaches in the room and on the committee. It reflects health and rest at the forefront of the need for the rule. These limits are close to what many coaches are already placing on their pitchers. These recommendations are about rest and developing pitching depth.
• USA Baseball has already issued it recommendations. Its maximums are 95 pitches for players ages 15-16 and 4 days mandatory rest after 76 pitches thrown; for players 17-18 the maximum is 105 in a day, plus the four days’ rest after 76 pitches. There are varying degrees of mandated rest depending on numbers of pitches thrown. Here is a link to those recommendations.
• CHSAA once had one of country’s stronger pitching limitations (12 innings over 72 hours, with no limit on pitches), but now, after research has shown that using an innings limitation is unhealthy for pitchers, it has become one of the weakest and most potentially damaging rules for pitchers.
• The NFHS is exploring its own version of these requirements and will have its recommendations for states after this summer, but Colorado felt like it needed to be out in front of those decisions so that any NFHS decision was made based on Colorado’s situations, not what is happening around the rest of the country.

Colorado can be a leader in determining the direction of its own limitations, rather than having to be forced into a certain direction.

Our pitching recommendations are reflective of a great deal of research that included input from baseball doctors, trainers, high school coaches and even major league players.

Long discussions were held on the smaller school issues and the limited rosters those schools occasionally have. The result of those discussions noted that these limitations will require all schools to develop greater pitching depth than they currently have. A second piece to this was that it may take several seasons for schools to develop that depth. Those challenges could be overcome by adjusting schedules to ensure that time is available for the mandated rest.

The recommendations in the report were reviewed by two major committees – the Baseball pitching ad-hoc committee and the CHSAA baseball advisory committee. Not everyone agreed with the final determination, but all agreed that it needed to be addressed.

The Baseball pitching ad-hoc committee, which did the bulk of the research had two MDs (including one of the country’s top expert in pitching injuries), two trainers, seven coaches (including small school, mid-size and big school coaches), several top club/private pitching coaches, as well as input from two former major leaguers.

The pitching committee met three times over the past few months. (Bert Borgmann/CHSAANow.com)

The committee met three times, and recommended a more stringent rule, but the CHSAA baseball committee amended their recommendation to get a start on this switch in philosophies. It can be adjusted after it has been in place, as needed. Additionally, while the report calls for immediate implementation, it could be delayed to the 2016 season.

One of the issues that this does not address is the outside influence issue. CHSAA can only control the 25 percent of the year that is high school, but the committee is developing an educational video that will highlight the issue with overuse of arms, the medical needs, the importance of proper training, the need for communication between high school coaches and club coaches for the health of the player, and will conclude with former Colorado prep players who are in MLB recounting why playing more than one sport got them where they are and the need to rest the arms.

It will also have information from collegiate and professional scouts to help give perspective that only 6.8 percent of high school players will ever play in college. The baseball committee stresses that CHSAA can only do what it can.

Here are the limitations, requirements that accompany them and a recommendation to enhance the regulations:

* – Additionally, no pitcher may throw more than 60 pitches over two days. If they throw 60 pitches in two days, there will be one day of required rest.

^ – No sub-varsity pitcher can throw more than 35 pitches over two days. That limit will result in one day of mandated rest.

A pitcher will be allowed to finish a batter if they hit the limit (110 in varsity play; 85 in sub-varsity) during an at-bat, but must exit the game after the hitter.

It is strongly recommended that once a pitcher is removed, consideration be given to what position he is assigned once he is done pitching. Consideration should be given to the throwing requirement of the fielding position once the pitcher vacates the mound.

(Jenn Roberts-Uhlig/CHSAANow.com)

CHSAA’s Legislative Council is meeting on Jan. 30. Assistant commissioner Bert Borgmann breaks down how the meeting works in this Asked & Answered:

Typically, after these meetings, you’ll hear, “CHSAA did X.” What does that really mean?

The CHSAA is an organization made up of 343 individual high schools, found in 197 communities across Colorado. The CHSAA membership has over 190,000 student participants and 7,000 coaches in nearly 30 different sports and activities.

Often, when a reference is made to “CHSAA did X,” that person is referring to the CHSAA staff — perhaps without having any knowledge of how the Association works. What is missing with this perception is the knowledge of the CHSAA as an organization with an established democratic process similar to that of a state government. The CHSAA staff cannot change rules or bylaws.

Before a CHSAA rule or a playoff format can be implemented, it has to go through this process. So, “CHSAA did X,” really refers to this democratic process.

Can a CHSAA administrator simply decide to change a rule and have it be done at the snap of a finger?

No. The role of the CHSAA staff is to interpret and implement the Association Constitution and Bylaws. Commissioner Paul Angelico has the ultimate authority on the interpretations and implementation of the rules. He is supported by six Assistant Commissioners who carry out that authority. The Assistant Commissioners — Bert Borgmann, Tom Robinson, Bethany Brookens, Harry Waterman, Bud Ozzello and Jenn Roberts-Uhlig — also administer the various activities within the organization and may be asked to address situations for the Legislative Council and Board of Directors on proposals that impact their activities. But, the staff does not have the authority to change a rule.

Can you explain the process of how the legislative council works?

The Legislative Council is made up of 73 representatives from the CHSAA member schools’ 36 leagues, along with three representatives from the Colorado Association of Secondary School Administrators, five from the Colorado Association of School Boards and three from the Colorado Athletics Directors Association. Each league automatically receives one LC representative. A league is eligible for additional LC members when that league has 10-19 schools or has 10,000 or more students in its member schools. A league with 20 or more schools receives four representatives on the LC.

Each member has a single vote and is allowed to vote on any constitutional or administrative proposal or committee report brought before the Legislative Council. The LC meets twice a year, once in January and again in April. Its role is to establish the rules and regulations that the Association will operate under for the next year. It is also responsible for approving or altering the playoff formats that have been submitted by the various sports, activities and administrative committees.

What’s the difference between proposals set forth in the agenda and those from the floor?

Only a league or the CHSAA Board of Directors may propose a change to the CHSAA Constitution and Bylaws. Those proposals must be submitted 60 days in advance of the LC meeting. Those proposals must be voted on as written and no amendments can be made to a constitutional or administrative proposal once it is submitted. No constitutional or bylaw proposal may be brought up from the floor. Constitutional proposals require a two-thirds majority of those voting to pass, while administrative bylaws require a majority vote to pass.

Any committee report may be amended. If the amendment to the committee report is received 60 days in advance, then a majority vote is required for its passage. Committee reports may also be amended from the floor, but will require a two-thirds majority for passage.

How much involvement does CHSAA staff have on amendments/proposals?

The CHSAA staff’s role in the Legislative Council can come in a variety of ways. The Commissioner and his assistant commissioners serve as liaisons on all committees — sports, activities or administrative — and each has assignments within those committees. They assist the committees in the development of playoff formats in sports, the various state events for non-athletic activities and the support information for the administrative committees like Budget/Property Administration, Tournament and Playoff Finance, Sportsmanship, or other committees.

Because of the staff’s statewide perspective from their roles with the office, the staff may also be asked by the Board of Directors and leagues to assist with the wording of amendments and proposals. Leagues and the Board may also seek their perspective on issues as they relate to bylaws based on experience from a more global perspective.

The staff cannot submit bylaws on its own, but would have to have Board of Directors approval for any they might wish to see the membership consider.

Tom Arensdorf

Tom Arensdorf is the chair of the Classification and League Organizing Committee (CLOC). That committee sets and creates alignment for two-years cycles in all sports — except for football, which is handled by that sport’s committee.

Currently the superintendent of Arriba-Flagler Consolidated School District No. 20, he served as the president for what is now the CHSAA Board of Directors from 2001-03.

Next week, CLOC will meet to set the 2014-16 alignment. We caught up with Arensdorf to get an overview of how CLOC works and look towards potential changes in the future.

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What are some of the biggest challenges you deal with on the CLOC?

“Colorado is a state that is going in two directions with enrollment. Outside the I-25 corridor in the Front Range, enrollments continue to decline. So we see more and more schools needing to move down a classification because they’ve lost enrollment. While in the Front Range area, enrollments are increasing, and more schools are being built. Typically, when they build a new school nowadays, they model it over a plan that would have about a 1,600 population for a high school. That puts them up into the 4A bracket when the start. Or some of them start out with just one class, then they add a class every year. But very quickly, they’re up in the 4A or even 5A levels.

“We’re going in both directions. And the economy affects the enrollments in private schools almost more than it does in public schools. When the economy was down, we saw a lot of the smaller private schools struggling and close. In the meantime, it seems like some of the bigger, maybe more affluent private schools have flourished as they’ve picked up enrollment from other schools. Some of the longtime private schools that were strong members like Denver Christian and Denver Lutheran were around forever, and Christian’s had to go down a classification, Lutheran’s closed now [after combining with Lutheran-Parker].

“Schools, as groups, kind of take [league alignment] on their own. They’ll get together and have discussions and come up with a plan. You know, ‘We want to create a league out of these schools’ – maybe because enrollment changes or schools open up. And they have to bring those plans to us. There’s a process they have to go through if they’re leaving a league or if they are potentially getting into a league. Usually, it kind of takes care of itself, but sometimes, some schools aren’t a great fit for a league, and people don’t want them. We have to, if a league will not accept them, then we’ll have to make a decision and place them into a league.”

How do you go about doing that? Do you try and look at geography, or is it a combination? If you are forced to put a team into a league, what are the factors you look at?

“Well, geography’s certainly one. In the metro area, it’s not quite as big a deal, because schools are so close together that travel’s not that big of an issue. But in outlying areas, you try and consider geography. [Other factors are] competition and competitive balance, having like programs. Say it’s a 5A or 4A school and they have all the programs like lacrosse, swimming and all those different kinds of things, they want to be in a league that also has those types of sports.”

Schools have to go to a league meeting in order to be accepted into that league. Is that right?

“They have to petition to a league and try and get the league’s blessing to have them come in. They also have to petition their own league and ask to leave the league. If you had a league of seven schools, and all of a sudden, three of them decided they wanted to leave that league, it becomes a league of four, and that doesn’t work.

“But usually schools do a pretty good job of researching where’s a good fit for them, or why they want to make that change. It’s not a sudden event. They may be looking at that for a year or two, so the schools that maybe are going to be left in that league, they may go look to join up with another league or something like that. Sometimes leagues totally get disbanded.

“The main issue that people have nowadays is they want to try and compete against schools, at some point or another, that they’re probably going to be facing in their districts or regionals. … Schools want to have some semblance of who they’re going to be competing against if they have the type of program that’s going to be competing in the upper echelon of that sport. They want the opportunity to play against some of those teams before they get into those playoffs.”

I know you take everything into account, but are classifications and leagues, by-and-large, based on basketball?

“Yeah, because that’s the sport that almost every school has. When we’re looking at, if there’s 70 schools in 1A, pretty much everyone plays basketball and volleyball. They may not have track or they may not have some other sports. Football and basketball, pretty much everybody has and participates in. But football has a whole different set of numbers.”

The biggest change (to the classification system) for the next cycle is that there’s not going to be a set number for 1A and 2A. Instead, it’s going to be a split down the middle. Do you have an idea yet of where that might be?

“We’ll decide that at the meeting. What’s happening with some of the very small schools is a lot of them are forming co-ops, so they have they have enough to have a team. So you have to count two of those schools as one. I’ve been looking at some numbers there, and it looks like there’s probably going to be about 68 teams in each classification.

“When we decided to do the split in the middle, people thought it was going to lower that [enrollment] number. Eight or 10 kids may not seem like a lot, but when you’re one of those bubble schools, it is. As more teams have co-oped together, [the new split] may not make that much of a difference. We’ll just have to see.

“There will be some schools there that will ask to play down a classification. We implemented a bylaw – it’s probably been 10 years now – that if a school, in a certain sport, meets the criteria of winning less than 25 percent of their games in the last four seasons, they can petition to play down a classification. So if some teams would petition out of 3A to play down into 2A, and that is granted, then it will add more teams into that pool.”

Is that a hard-and-fast, ‘If they hit this number,’ they’ll be approved to play down?

“Yeah. We usually approve it. It’s worked really well for a couple of schools in certain sports that have been able to kind of get their numbers going again and get their programs to go back up. It hasn’t worked for everybody. But they don’t get beat up as bad, especially in football.”

So you guys approve play-downs for football, too?

“Yes. We approve all the play-downs.”

Now, lacrosse is kind of a different animal, and I know there are other sports like that. Is that another challenge of trying to match different programs up?

“In those kind of sports, that usually goes back to that sport’s committee for a recommendation. Sports like lacrosse, when they first started up, there may have been only 14 or 15 schools playing lacrosse. So everybody that played lacrosse was in one classification. Well, as the sport has grown – and we see that in soccer, in cross country – and maybe more smaller schools have decided to add that program, we had too many schools for one classification. … The [sport’s] committee usually will come and say, ‘We have too many schools for one classification, we need to make a split.’ And usually they’ll make a recommendation to us on where to make that split.”

This is down the line, but a lot of talk has centered on potentially adding Class 6A. What are your thoughts on adding another classification?

“I really don’t feel strongly about it one way or another. We had six classifications at one time. There are some people that think the more classifications you have, you kind of water down whatever sport it might be.

“There are probably 80 schools that have less than 100 kids in school. We added 1A track a few years ago. Honestly, there are probably 50 1A schools that don’t even have 50 kids in school. And they don’t field a complete track team. Sometimes, you’ll have events, like relay teams and stuff like that, that, honestly, there are some pretty poor teams in those events. Just not enough manpower to create great relay teams for that many schools. So you get some criticism that way, that we water things down.

“On the other hand, when you look at classifications, there is two ways to look at it: Is it more fair to have the same number of schools in each classification, so we’re all competing against 65 schools for that state championship? Or is it more fair that you shouldn’t have to compete against anybody that’s more than two-and-a-half times bigger than you? So we’ve kind of gone both ways, trying to be middle of the road.

“At one time, 3A only had about 35 schools in it. At that time, a lot of those were private schools, and they had enrollments of about 600. The public schools, they’re not going to operate a public school that small. You get more bang for your buck if you have 1,200 or 1,600 kids. So there’s not a lot of schools that size. But [those private schools] were too big to participate against 2A schools that would have maybe 235 kids at the top enrollment. So 3A wasn’t very big, and it caught a lot of angst among the lower classifications or the ones above them that 3A was having 35 schools compete for a basketball championship, and 1A and 2A were having 70.

“So you have those two ways of looking at how to set up classifications. If you add a classification, you can narrow that enrollment gap so you don’t have a school of 100 having to play against a school of 300 kids, or a school of 600 playing against a school that has 1,500. That’s really what adding a classification would do, shrink some of that enrollment gap within each classification.

“You’re going to have outsiders like Cherry Creek. No one else is near that big. And you have high schools with 13 kids. They’ll still have a basketball team.”

What are some of the things the CLOC committee now faces on a regular basis?

“Over the last decade, the disparity in the direction that enrollments are going has really changed as rural and non-Front Range schools, their enrollments continue to decline. There are lots of schools that are playing 2A basketball and volleyball and all those things that were really strong 3A schools, say, 18 years ago. That’s hard for a guy that’s been a 2A school to swallow: All of a sudden, here’s all these schools that used to be in 3A now in my classification.

“In football, there have been lots of [1A] teams that have gone down to 8-man and 8-man teams that have to go down to 6-man. That never feels right for those people that have never had to compete against those bigger schools.

“Then on the other end, there are just more and more 5A schools being created and enrollments continue to increase in those urban areas and metro areas. So, the bigger the spread, the more issues it causes.”

Big-picture, what changes do you see?

“[A committee commissioned by assistant commissioner Bud Ozzello] has looked into lots of different things and studied a lot of other states, methodologies that they use to set their classifications. So things like factors you can put in, maybe a poverty factor. It’s very clear that schools of poverty have way less participation than schools that don’t face poverty. The participation isn’t the same.

“There’s a huge debate, and there has been for a long time in Colorado, because our private schools play with public schools. And there’s not a factor for being a private school. There’s no secret there that private schools have done very well in the last two decades, and there’s always the idea that private schools can “recruit.” Private schools have to recruit students, that’s how they get students to come to their schools, they’re paying to be there. So, for private schools, it’s very competitive to get kids to come to their schools. … And most of those schools don’t have a poverty factor, and they probably don’t have a special needs population. They’re not required by law to have federal special-ed programs. So a lot of people don’t think that their enrollment numbers are equitable to a public school enrollment number.”

There was a similar bylaw considered last Legislative Council meeting, wasn’t there?

“What they looked at was a success factor. And, honestly, the way the bylaw was written, by the time it went into effect – say I’m a small private school in 2A, and I have a group of four boys that are stallions and we win basketball and maybe we do really good in baseball because I have these really good athletes that can carry a program. Well, by the time they [would have had] to change classification, those kids would all be out of school. And, in smaller schools, even up to 3A, you can go from the penthouse to the outhouse in a couple of years.

“That’s what that looked at, if they had so much success, they would have had to move up a classification. It wouldn’t have worked very well. It was probably good that it didn’t pass.

“But that committee that Bud’s been working with on this classification question, they’re looking at some of those different factors, like poverty. It could be that at some point, there is more of a formula to determine your enrollment number rather than just taking a set number from [the Colorado Department of Education]. We use those CDE numbers because that’s how schools are funded, based on your population, and so no one’s going to cheat on that. They want all the money they can get.”

[Creating an enrollment formula] would take a bylaw change, wouldn’t it?

“Yes, it would.”

Would that come from you guys, or the membership?

“Our committee might write the bylaw and send it to the membership, or the Board of Directors might write that bylaw and send it to us to see what we think about it, and we could pass it forward to the Legislative Council to see if they think it would work for our organization.

“Classification numbers are always a hot topic, because everybody wants to feel like they’re getting a fair shot. … The emotional factor of changing leagues and classifications is pretty huge in some situations.”

At the end of the eight-hour school day, students walk through the doors and gates of our gyms, rinks, pools, courts and fields to be a part of the high school sports experience.  They show up with a backpack of ‘stuff’ they have acquired throughout their day: stuff that includes friends, popularity, comparison, teachers, being in, being out, academic content, who’s who, success, failure, clichés, boyfriends, girlfriends, acceptance and rejection, just to name a few.  The reality for students is that much of their day includes uncertainty, where they stand in shifting sand, where a firm footing is almost impossible to find.

Many students are looking for a place where they will be accepted.  They are looking for a place where they don’t have to pretend and they can show up as their authentic selves.  They want a place where they don’t have to try to fit in.  They want a safe place where they belong.  Dr. Brene’ Brown, author of Daring Greatly, states:

“Belonging is the innate human desire to be part of something larger than us.  Because this yearning is so primal, we often try to acquire it by fitting in and by seeking approval, which are not only hollow substitutes for belonging, but often barriers to it.  Fitting in and belonging are not the same thing.  Fitting in is about assessing a situation and becoming who you need to be in order to be accepted.  Belonging doesn’t require us to change who we are; it requires us to be who we are.”

When students are connected to an experience and they have a relationship with an adult who really cares about them, one who allows them to show up as themselves, belonging and a sense of security follows.

Think about your own playing experiences.  Can you recall a coach to whom you were connected—one who accepted you for you and created a safe place where you belonged?  If this was your experience, it didn’t happen accidentally.  It happened because your coach understood his or her role and intentionally created that space.  It happens today for students when we as coaches choose to be aware of our students’ deeper needs and intentionally create a place of belonging.

When a coach is aware of their purpose and creates this place of belonging and connection, it is called TEAM.  When TEAM is intentionally created, students can walk through the practice door at the end of the school day and instead of clutching their backpacks, they can put them down.  When this happens the conditions are right for students to experience more than what is on the surface—the game.  When we intentionally create this place the conditions are right for deeper, life-changing experiences where work can be done collectively to reach a common goal; where everyone has a role; where students can be themselves and are also aware that they are part of something greater than themselves; and where learning, growth and connection are the purpose.

There has to be more.  We have to provide students with more.  We have to give them something that will live beyond the span of their four years in high school.  We have to get below the surface and get to their deeper needs where greater opportunities for growth and development exist.  We must intentionally give students experiences that are about more than just the game and instead are relevant to real life; real life skills that are necessary to work through problems, resolve conflict, be responsible, strive for excellence, find value in mistakes and failure, help others succeed, be a contributing member of a group, and see life through the lens of possibility.  In order to get below the surface where the learning of these necessary life lessons takes place, we have to be aware of our role in creating a space where students feel they can show up and be themselves.  We have to understand what the word ‘coach’ really means.

The very first use of the word ‘coach’ occurred in the 1500’s to refer to a particular kind of covered carriage that moved people of importance safely from where they were to where they needed to be.  Our role as a coach in 2013 needs to be understood in the same way.  We need to create a TEAM—a ‘place’ of safety and belonging so we can move people of importance—our students—from where they are to where they need to be.

Every coach has the responsibility to create a safe place where learning opportunities can occur.  When we create a climate of belonging, we create a culture of possibility, where there are unlimited opportunities and potential for growth.

So at the end of the school day, when students come to practice with their backpacks on we must remember the words of Dr. Brene’ Brown and be cognizant of our coaching purpose: to provide every student with a safe place to belong, one that doesn’t require students to change who they are; but only requires them to be who they are.  If we provide this place, students will not waiver in shifting sand, instead they will have firm footing with a sense of belonging where it will be safe for them to not only learn a game but more importantly to learn the lessons necessary to assist them as they navigate their way through life.

Jody Redman is the Associate Director of the Minnesota State High School League.

(CHSAA file photo)

Question: What is the CHSAA Citizenship Rule and why does it exist?

General observers of high school sports — parents, grandparents, the normal neighborhood fan — really don’t look beyond the competitive aspect of what our students are doing when out there on the football field, the softball diamond, running around the track, or spiking a volleyball. What they see are kids playing games, albeit on a stage more prominent than most.

What lies beyond the competition is what is important to the Colorado High School Activities Association membership. Those who work in prep sports know that high school activities are inherently educational.

They provide valuable lessons for practical situations, like teamwork, sportsmanship and hard work. Students learn self-discipline, build self-confidence and develop skills to handle all manners of situations. There are few of that would argue these qualities are needed for our students to grow into responsible adults, productive citizens and skilled professionals.

High school activities are an investment in the community and build the kinds of citizens we all want for the future. Students earn their place on the field and with the teams for which they compete. They are held to high behavioral expectations, creating the foundation of citizenship.

To that end, the CHSAA membership holds its student participants to specific academic and behavioral eligibility standards. In order to play, a student must meet these standards.  Rules provide the structure for fair play.

Citizenship and academic eligibility rules hold students accountable for their actions.

The role of citizenship is addressed in the CHSAA by-laws and has been a major tenet for the Association since 1933. The rule at that time said,

“Citizenship. No student shall be certified as eligible to represent his school unless in the judgment of the principal he is representative of the school’s ideals in matter [sic] of conduct, effort and training. In making any list of eligible players for a specific game, the principal shall obtain from each teacher an estimate of the player’s standing in conduct, effort, attendance and scholastic results. No student shall be considered eligible who remains persistently unsatisfactory in any of these particulars.”

The rule stayed in this form until 2002 when a minor “tweaking” was done to it and here is how rule 1720 (b) reads now:

“In the judgment of the principal of the student’s school he/she is representative of the school’s ideals in matters of citizenship, conduct and sportsmanship.”

Now, rule 1850.3 also holds reference to the importance of citizenship,

“CITIZENSHIP/INELIGIBLE TRANSFER — A student who would be ineligible because of any citizenship violation will be declared ineligible for the same time period at the new school.”

Students learn when they are held accountable. CHSAA rules are designed to help with that. High school events are fun, but they’re educational, too.

Stormy weather forced Grand Junction and Prairie View to delay their kickoff until 8:45 p.m. (Bert Borgmann/CHSAANow.com)

Question: Why are games delayed by lightning?

Late summer thunderstorms are often a blessing and can cut the oppressive heat of a 90-degree plus August day. But, for those people who are responsible for the players and fans attending games as the fall high school season begins, they can also mean danger and potential trouble.

There’s a CHSAANow.com story about last week’s Prairie View-Grand Junction Zero Week game played in Henderson. The accompanying photos show one of a thunderstorm swirling above the stadium. That storm produced lightning close enough to the site to postpone warm-ups and keep fans from entering the stadium. Although the game’s a week old, it serves as an example of how schools deal with threatening weather.

There is a national protocol that schools follow when the threat of lightning is present.

If that threat is near before the teams warm up, the decision to allow fans to enter the stadium and the teams to take the field for warm-ups is the responsibility of the host team’s game management personnel. Back to PVHS. Athletic Trainer Michelle Taylor is tasked with ensuring that it’s safe for players and fans alike to enter the stadium.

Using a lightning detector that helps identify approximate distances, she and other game management are able to track storms and provide more accurate information on the storm’s track. While last week’s storm was rolling across the foothills, Taylor was able to help game management track the storm and more accurately predict an appropriate game start time.

But the volatile weather can also throw a wrench in the plans. After two delays, the teams got onto the fields, an official saw lightning close enough that he called for a third delay until yet another cell passed. The game kicked off at 8:45 p.m. and had no further delays.

The nationally-recommended protocol was developed by the National Federation of State High School Associations and was adopted in 2010. Here is the suggested protocol:

NFHS GUIDELINES ON HANDLING CONTESTS DURING LIGHTNING DISTURBANCES

National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS)/Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC)

The purpose of these guidelines is to provide a default policy to those responsible for making decisions concerning the suspension and restarting of contests based on the presence of lightning. The preferred sources from which to request such a policy for your facility would include your state high school association and the nearest office of the National Weather Service.

Proactive Planning

1. Assign staff to monitor local weather conditions before and during events.

2. Develop an evacuation plan, including identification of appropriate nearby shelters.

3. Develop criteria for suspension and resumption of play:

• When thunder is heard, or a cloud-to-ground lightning bolt is seen, the thunderstorm is close enough to strike your location with lightning. Suspend play and take shelter immediately.
• Thirty-minute rule. Once play has been suspended, wait at least 30 minutes after the last thunder is heard or flash of lightning is witnessed prior to resuming play.
• Any subsequent thunder or lightning after the beginning of the 30 minute count, reset the clock and another 30 minute count should begin.

4. Hold periodic reviews for appropriate personnel.

For more detailed information, refer to the “Guidelines for Lightning Safety” section contained in the NFHS Sports Medicine Handbook.

Question: What is the basis for CHSAA’s transfer rule?

Often, we’re asked why we have a transfer rule. People not associated with high school sports wonder why such a big deal is made about a student changing schools.

One of the primary objectives of the CHSAA is to ensure that student athletes are just that: students — and then athletes. As we all know, there is much documentation regarding that changing schools and curriculums is not a positive thing for a student’s academic progress. Curriculums do not always match up well enough for a smooth transition when changing schools.

We need to ensure that athletics do not play a role in a student’s decision to change schools. The transfer rule is intended to do just that.

One of the best lessons athletics can teach a student is that people are best served when they face issues head on and work through those issues. Working through our differences for a common goal is a lifelong lesson that athletics can teach better than any other vehicle. Moving or transferring when things get tough is not the best solution. Again, the transfer rule is designed to help ensure this lesson is taught.

High school athletics, unlike clubs, are designed to be centered around a community, and to teach that the individual serves the school, not vice versa. Transferring is potentially undermining this value and our rule works well to promote these values.

Participation is a privilege and the transfer rule that seeks to preserve that privilege for all who earn it.  Finally, and most important, is that the transfer rule was put in place to ensure a level playing field for all competitors. This means that winning is not the most important thing and to ensure that all students — not just the elite athlete — have a fair and equal chance to play.

(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots)

A hot topic in the aftermath of football’s Zero Week was the fact that referees are now identifying players by their numbers on penalty calls. We caught up with CHSAA assistant commissioner Tom Robinson, who oversees officials, for an explanation.

First and foremost: the new addition is not a new rule, but instead a mechanic. Mechanics are designed to help relay information to the players, coaches and crowd. And because of that, “It’s not one of those where you have to be in 100 percent compliance with it as you would with a rule book,” Robinson said.

The new mechanic should help reduce instances where coaches are trying to figure out who a penalty was called on. But don’t expect it to be called in every stadium across the state — at least not right away.

“That’s going to be the learning curve for them in terms of getting the number,” Robinson said. “So, probably you’re not going to get (the numbers) all the time, it’s going to be an afterthought until we get more experience doing it.”

Here’s a Q & A on the new mechanic with Robinson, who was a college football official for 25 years, including the last 12 as referee of his crew.

Can you take us through the basis of it and where it originated?

“I guess it got its roots not through this office (CHSAA) but through some other conversations I was having with officials in general. Really, it was from that whole topic of, ‘Are officials accountable?’ So we were just trying to come up with some different ways with all of our (officials) associations to do some things a little differently and to add to what we’re doing.

“That was a conversation I had in June, and even before. And so as the CFOA was getting ready for their season, that was one of the suggestions: Could we, instead of having a bunch of coaches asking, ‘Well, who was (the penalty) on?’ … have a mechanic where we relay the number of a fouling player (to the coach)? But a lot of times, it depends on how close you are … and there’s always a delay (in getting that information to the coach). So the question was, why don’t we alleviate the pressure around getting that number (to the coach) by just calling that number out right away when they signal the penalty?”

Are there any other states doing this?

“We’re probably one of a handful of states.”

Have you gotten any feedback from officials with it?

“I have not seen via email one thing about announcing the numbers. Not since Zero Week, which is when it started. We went out to football clinics and some of the officials were not happy about it. It’s probably one of a few. Others may have had similar feelings, because, if you’re old school, it’s just the way we’ve done it (to not call numbers) all the time. And I’m old school, too, but I always thought it would be helpful (to call numbers out), because our mechanics are designed to be a guide for people in the stands who don’t know what’s going on: the signals, signaling touchdown, all of that is important to the game, and this is just one more thing.

“I would say this: In every other sport, we identify the fouling player. … (In basketball) the announcer announces the fouling player, it goes up on a lot of scoreboards. I think (not calling numbers) was just a tradition that football had.”

Question: Why does CHSAA have an age rule?

In May 1921, a group of principals and superintendents gathered to create the organization that would evolve into the current 343-member Colorado High School Activities Association we have today. Why?

Talks had been taking place long before that meeting. After all, games were being played every week — even as World War I raged. While limited information exists on injuries during that time, competitive athletics has always provided a risk of serious injury, especially football. And safety and fair play were a top priority then, as today.

The country was just three years away from the end of the war. It was seeing hundreds of thousands of soldiers on their way home and returning to their previous lives, as well as the emigration of hundreds of thousands Europeans fleeing countries ravaged by the war. For many, that meant returning to (or starting) high school. And, that’s where the story of the Colorado High School Athletic Conference begins.

There are documented reports that upon their return, many of these men took up the sports they played before heading off to war. Schools started to see men as old as 22 and 23 playing football against those just starting high school, some as young as 14. It didn’t take long for fears of safety and fair play to arise.

So, schools began the discussion of creating a fair and safe playing field. And the organization started with age as one of its first rules.

The rule adopted in 1921 simply stated that a student shall not participate in athletics after having reached his 21st birthday, but he could complete the current season he was participating in. That rule remained that way until 1925, when the rule evolved to ineligibility “upon arriving at his 21st birthday.” Fifteen years later, that was changed to a student’s 20th birthday.

CHSAA’s current age of 19 was first adopted in 1950. That change meant a student could not participate in football if he turned 19 before August 25, or basketball, wrestling and swimming if he was 19 before December 1, or baseball, track, tennis and golf if his birthday was before March 1.

A modification to the previous rule was passed in 1958 where students who turned 19 prior to August 25 were prohibited from participation in any sport. In 1975, the Association changed the birthdate to August 1.

CHSAA’s age rule had remained consistent since then, but the ability to seek a waiver of the rule was added in 1991, which allowed schools to request a year if that student met specified educational or physical criteria. Initially, students could not be granted a waiver to play football, ice hockey and wrestling, but that limitation was removed in 1994.

In 1996, at a special meeting of the Board of Control at Aurora Central High School, and in response to a case where a 20-year-old Down’s Syndrome student had been denied a waiver to play, the CHSAA legislative body changed the age rule to give the Commissioner authority to allow for a variance of the rule in limited cases where the safety of the participant and other participants was not compromised and that such participation would have no bearing on the outcome of contests.

The final facelift came in 2005 when the CHSAA age rule was rewritten to eliminate the by-law from the waiver process and allow for a variance of the rule based on meeting the criteria for an exception. If the athlete meets the narrow criteria for an exception, the exception will then be either approved or rejected without appeal. The CHSAA Age Rule (1760) can be found on page 54 of the current Handbook.

In all, the rule has changed 13 times in 93 years, but the heart of the rule remains safety and fair play for its student participants.

Rules are often viewed as roadblocks for our ultimate goals, whether in life or in high school athletics. But rules are critical to the moral structure in our everyday life, and even more formative to our children in those sports and activities they play.

High school athletics and activities playing rules are about education, about teaching our young people to work within a structured system. Rules add value to those games and enhance the life lessons learned in an appropriate educational setting.

Simply by participating, our children learn many valuable lessons, but those lessons are enriched by the standards and expectations demanded of them under the Colorado High School Activities Association by-laws and the playing rules developed by the National Federation of State High School Associations. These rules provide a reason to play, provide the legitimacy for the results of the games.

Under CHSAA rules, students earn their participation opportunities through their performance in the classroom.

Rather than look at rules as roadblocks, we need to encourage our student participants, their parents and our communities to view rules as a means to improve our society, the moral structure by which we all live.

Rules raise expectations. Higher expectations yield greater results. Rules establish a level playing field and give participants a place to start their ascent to the adult world. Rules begin the structure from which our ethics and principles develop.

Without everyone playing by, and knowing, the rules, making a basket, sinking a putt, spiking a ball is meaningless. Structure, rules create the learning environment children need to succeed in life.