We are now taking applications for students who want to become a student leadership state representative.

Students can apply by using this form.

The application deadline is March 5.

Our students and advisers that make up CHSAA are excited for another amazing group of student leaders to guide us successfully through the next school year.

Results from the 2021 virtual CHSAA state speech and debate festival.

(Bethany Brookens/CHSAANow.com)

The first virtual CHSAA State Championships will be held this Friday and Saturday. The CHSAA State Speech & Debate Festival will be entirely online, and we are excited to offer this opportunity for all of our student.

This event is the state championship event in speech and debate for smaller schools.

The following schools will be battling it out during these championships:

• Alamosa
• Battle Mountain
• Dawson
• Denver Christian
• Eagle Valley
• Faith Christian
• Fowler
• Frederick
• Fort Morgan
• Hayden
• Limon
• Longmont
• Niwot
• Pagosa Springs
• Platte Canyon
• Resurrection Christian
• Silver Creek
• St. Mary’s Academy
• Stargate
• Steamboat Springs
• University

The following are the events the students will be competing in: Interpretation of Drama, Interpretation of Humor, Interpretation of Poetry, Original Oratory, Combined Extemporaneous Speaking, One-on-One Value Debate, Creative Storytelling, Congressional Debate, Public Forum Debate, Lincoln Douglas Debate, Duo Interpretation, Program Oral Interpretation, Informative Speaking, and Impromptu Speaking.

Thank you to all of the coaches and administrators for supporting Speech & Debate this year.  We are especially grateful for the hard work of Tournament Directors, Greg Hanson (Dawson) and Diane Wagener (Battle Mountain). Good luck to all teams and participants this weekend!

The Colorado High School Activities Association is excited to offer its first ever virtual solo and ensemble music festival this week for schools and students across the state of Colorado.

There are nearly 350 total entries, and 73 schools are represented.

The CHSAA will be offering another virtual solo and ensemble festival opportunity March 1-5, 2021, and the sign-up for that festival will be forthcoming. Good luck to all participants!

Thank you to the following schools for promoting music, and supporting your students in this educational opportunity:

(Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

In conjunction with the celebration of the National High School Activities Month, the Colorado High School Activities Association is excited to announce that we are creating a statewide virtual solo and ensemble festival this year.

The CHSAA recognizes that nothing is the same during these challenging times, but we want to support and offer encouragement to our directors across the state. This virtual festival is easy, simple to use, available for all schools — elementary, middle school, and high school! Even those in a virtual or hybrid model, and this would be a great evaluation tool for both the student(s) and the director.

“We are really excited to be able to offer this music opportunity for everyone in the state,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Bethany Brookens. “We strongly encourage everyone to sign up as soon as possible to ensure they get a spot.”

We will be using HeartOut as our digital platform of choice. This is a free app that students, directors and judges will be using. This is an asynchronous opportunity to participate. Students and directors will have an entire week (Monday-Friday) in January to upload their best performance, and then the judges will login soon after the deadline to provide a quality overall rating and give comprehensive written feedback on the recorded performance.

The inaugural virtual CHSAA Solo & Ensemble Festival will be January 18-22, 2021. If you would like to take part, and these dates absolutely don’t work, please let us know and we will be happy to schedule more opportunities. Registration is now open: CHSAA Solo & Ensemble Registration Form.

This festival is available to all students in elementary, middle school, and high school. Solos and ensembles (up to 16 students) are allowed. The events are Vocal, High Brass (trumpet/French horn), Low Brass (trombone, baritone, tuba), High String (violin, viola), Low String (cello, bass), Piano, Percussion, Flute, Saxophone, Woodwind (clarinet, oboe, bassoon), Mixed Ensembles, Guitar, and Ukulele.

Entry costs for solos and small ensembles (less than 10 students) are $10/each, and ensembles 11-16 students are $15/each.

Worried about memorization? Not required. Is your school still virtual, or in a hybrid model?  No problem — students can easily upload their performances on their own, or you can help them their day at school. Is there a required music list? Nope, music just must be festival appropriate. More questions? Please visit our FAQ page HERE.

CHSAA contacts for this festival are Bethany Brookens and Sandra Williamson. We look forward to hearing from you!

Our goal is to provide an educationally based opportunity for all music students and directors across the state. Directors are encouraged to use these ratings as an evaluation tool for their administration, and students will be motivated to work towards improvement during these untraditional times.

This list will be updated as questions are asked. Please reach out to Bethany or Sandra at CHSAA with specific questions or comments. We look forward to having you and your students participate!

1. All ages are welcome (elementary through high school). Sign-ups must be made through the school’s music director, and not individual students/parents/private teachers.
2. In order to be eligible, students must be an active member of their local school’s music program (as determined by the school).
3. Memorization is recommended, but not required for any events.
4. Due to COVID-19 difficulties, canned accompanist is allowed, if necessary.
5. At the time of performance (audition is the word that HeartOut uses) (January 18-22), students will be required to announce the title and composer of the piece(s) they will be playing. They will then be required to hold up their music in front of their faces for three (3) seconds to verify they are performing from non-photocopied sheet music.
6. At the time of registration, directors will be required to verify that they are obeying all copyright laws.
7. A director may conduct their ensemble, if necessary.
8. Solos and ensembles (up to 16 students) allowed. Events are Vocal, High Brass (trumpet/French horn), Low Brass (trombone, baritone, tuba), High String (violin, viola), Low String (cello, bass), Piano, Percussion, Flute, Saxophone, Woodwind (clarinet, oboe, bassoon), Mixed Ensembles, Guitar, and Ukulele.
9. There is no required music list. Music must be festival appropriate.
10. At the time of registration you do not need to select the music or indicate what you will be playing! Just sign up to reserve your spot. You don’t have to select music until January.
11. Solos and ensembles with 10 people or less will be $10/entry. Ensembles with 11-16 students will be $15/entry.
12. After the deadline, there will be no refunds of money.
13. Students will have a week (Monday, January 18-Friday, January 22, 2021) to upload their performance(s). Performances can be up to 10 minutes.
14. If schools or districts don’t feel comfortable with students uploading the performance/audition themselves, directors can submit the performance on the student or ensembles behalf!
15. All uploads will be made using the free HeartOut app from the GooglePlay or App Store. When students are ready to record their final performance, they will have 3 opportunities. They will then be able to upload their best performance to be judged.
16. Judges will provide ratings and comments within the app during the weekend of January 23-24, 2021, and feedback should be ready for the students on Monday, January 25th.
17. Ratings will be based upon 5 categories, worth 10 points each.
18. Students and schools will be able to order medals through CMEA based upon the ratings they receive during our festival. All award orders can be placed by going to the CMEA web site at cmeaonline.org, clicking on the General Information Tab and Clicking on the Order CMEA Awards Tab. All transactions can be completed on-line, including credit card payment. Do you have questions regarding CMEA awards? You can direct those questions to CMEA Awards Manager- Ken Anderson at awardscmeaonline@gmail.com
19. HeartOut’s Privacy Policy is excellent and has been reviewed by the CHSAA Legal Team to ensure compliance and safety. It may be found HERE.
20. Judges will be used from across the state, and even country. A CHSAA adjudicator training will occur in December to review expectations, new rating sheets, and ensure that all students will have a positive experience at our festivals.
21. These dates don’t work for me, will there be another festival opportunity? Yes! If the demand is there, we hope to offer at least 1-2 more statewide solo and ensemble festivals this school year.

Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green took questions from CHSAA’s student leadership community as part of their virtual student leadership conference, held on Wednesday.

Questions ranged from her heroes growing up to the impact of COVID-19 to the movement for social and racial justice.

(Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

INDIANAPOLIS — To help elevate high school marching band field show performances and ease the financial burdens facing performing arts programs in the wake of COVID-19, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has collaborated with several organizations to produce “Together As One – One Nation,” a comprehensive field show performance package that can be used free of charge by schools across the country.

“Together As One” is powered by Varsity Performing Arts, a division of Varsity Spirit, in partnership with the NFHS and in coordination with United Sound – a nonprofit organization that provides musical performance experiences for students with special needs. The aptly named program includes a six-minute, fully arranged, designed and choreographed marching band performance that equips bands, cheer and dance teams with all the necessary elements to execute in unison.

“The NFHS is proud to partner with Varsity Performing Arts in the ‘Together As One’ marching band project,” said Dr. James Weaver, NFHS director of performing arts and sports. “Over the past several months, it has been a pleasure to work with an incredible group of nationally-renowned composers, arrangers and choreographers to provide this amazing marching band show.”

“As our country recovers, young people will need school spirit now more than ever before,” said Bill Seely, President of Varsity Spirit. “’Together As One’ is designed to help bring school spirit back into America’s schools in a powerful way, with the collaboration of the cheerleaders, dance team, band programs, and any group in the school that wants to be included. Our hope is that this will help ignite a strong sense of school spirit and community in the fall when our schools need it most.”

In addition to Weaver and executives from other national music organizations, “Together As One” utilizes contributions from a world-renowned cohort that includes design coordinator David Starnes and composer/music coordinator Robert W. Smith, along with 21 other individuals who are among the very best arrangers and choreographers in the field.

Spring is the most active time of the year for high school marching band fundraisers, meaning the vast majority of programs lost most – if not all – of their opportunities due to the pandemic. With field show arrangement costs often totaling multiple thousands of dollars, “Together As One” will not only serve to unite marching bands, cheer and dance teams around the country, but will provide schools with a much-needed cost-effective option for the upcoming season.

“We’re excited for this program to be provided to all schools for free with the hope of creating a sense of unity throughout the United States and all of our music programs,” Weaver said. “As we return to the classrooms, fields, rehearsal rooms and performance halls, we hope we all return ‘Together As One.’”

More information on the “Together As One” project can be found on Varsity Spirit’s website.

Band directors and performing arts leaders who would like to register for access to “Together As One” digital materials including sheet music and online video choreography can do so on Varsity’s website.

The CHSAA Legislative Council met virtually for the first time in its 99-year history on Friday.

They voted on more than 50 items, and made a number of changes to the Association’s bylaws, which impacted things from alignment to the transfer rule. We have rounded up most of those changes here.

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Two classes of hockey

(PaulDiSalvoPhotography.com)

Hockey will split into two classifications, beginning with the 2020-21 season.

The two-class split, which was recommended by the hockey committee during its meeting in February, places 20 teams into Class 5A, and 17 in 4A. The committee used a variety of factors to place teams from bylaw 1500.21, including enrollment, geography, competitive history, competitive balance, participation rate, and the entry or selection process that places an athlete at a program.

The committee recognized the need for two classes because there isn’t much, if any, parity in the sport. Over the past four years, only 14 different schools have advanced to the quarterfinals of the state tournament. Hockey currently has 37 teams.

The alignments for the sport can be found in this story from February.

Hockey will use the CHSAA Seeding Index to seed its two state tournaments: RPI, MaxPreps, and the CHSAANow coaches poll.

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New seeding criteria for 5A basketball

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

An amendment during the meeting changed the seeding criteria that 4A and 5A basketball will use for their state tournaments: The two classes will now use a combination of the RPI standings, MaxPreps rankings and the CHSAANow coaches pool — bringing them in line with what a number of other sports are now using.

1A will also use the same criteria, but will also use the Packard Ratings.

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2A baseball changes postseason

(Lisa Hayes/StillOfTheMomentPhotography.com)

The 2A baseball postseason will now mirror what is done in 3A, 4A and 5A, with a 32-team regional bracket. All teams will qualify for the bracket via the RPI standings, and seeded by RPI. The top eight seeds will host regionals, and seeds Nos. 20-32 can be moved for geographic reasons.

The state tournament also got an overhaul, and will move to an eight-team single-elimination bracket. Previously, 2A had a 16-team bracket.

With this change, 2A schools can now schedule 23 games.

Baseball also created a game minimum to be able to qualify for the postseason: 12 games in 1A, 17 in 2A and 3A, 19 in 4A and 5A.

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New field hockey tournament

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

In an effort to help the growth of the sport, the state field hockey tournament will expand from eight teams to 12.

The top six seeds will receive a bye while the next six will compete in a play-in bracket.

In one of those brackets, No. 9 and No. 12 will play, with the winner playing No. 8. The winner of that game will face No. 1.

In the other bracket, No. 10 and No. 11 will play, with the winner facing No. 7. The winner of that game will face the No. 2 overall seed.

During that same round, the No. 4 and No. 5 seed will play, with No. 3 and No. 6 also playing.

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The transfer rule

A number of proposals involved the transfer rule. Among the changes which passed:

• An adjustment to clarify that a student doesn’t have to transfer from a member school, in or out of state, in order for the rule to apply.
• A proposal better explained the transfer consequence for transferring to another school, and a return to the original school — also known as an A-B-A transfer. Specifically, a student who transfers from School A, transfers to School B and plays at School B, and the returns to School A, will only be eligible for sub-varsity competition at School A in the sports they participated in at School B for 365 days.
• A new bylaw passed allowing for students to participate with “restricted varsity eligibility during the regular season” if their high school does not offer a JV team, or if their school doesn’t allow seniors to play on sub-varsity teams.
• The definition of a hardship was rewritten to read: “‘Hardship’ means a situation, condition or event which must impost a severe non-athletic burden upon the student or his/her family and require a transfer of schools. This does not include the personal or initial choice of enrollment and/or participation.”

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Notables:

• The alignments for sports were finalized with the approval of each sports report. Those new alignments will be posted in the near future.
• The season of sport was changed in boys swimming, allowing for those championships to be moved up a week and have their own spotlight.
• 6-man and 8-man football will use the same four data points of seeding that was used in 1A-5A this season.
• In 5A football, all playoff games will be hosted by the higher seed.
• 1A girls volleyball will move from districts to regionals. The sport will also require that all teams play a minimum of 18 matches against member schools and varsity opponents in order to qualify for the postseason.
• Boys volleyball will have one classification during its inaugural season in spring 2021.
• Girls wrestling will use the same weight classes that were used in the pilot season.
• The 4A and 5A boys lacrosse state tournaments will each grow from 16 to 24 teams starting in spring 2021.
• The new format that will be used for a two-classification setup in girls lacrosse was approved. Find the structure for that format here.
• 2A soccer will increase its state tournament field from 12 teams to 16.
• The regional field in 3A softball will grow to 32 teams, bringing it in line with 4A and 5A.
• The requirements for qualifying for the state skiing championships were made more strict, to make the state field slightly smaller.
• The state spirit championships will move to a three-day format beginning this year. Schools will only be able to participate in one cheer category and one dance category at the state championships. Cheer and dance are now considered separate sports.
• Schools will be eligible to join CHSAA as activity-only schools, and not offer sports.
• The process for classifying programs was clarified with an amendment to bylaw 1510, which deals with the Classification, Appeals and League Organizing Committee (CLOC). Now, the CHSAA staff can offer adjustments “in extraordinary circumstances” that are based upon bylaw 1500.21 (the bylaw allowing for classification based upon factors other than enrollment) in even years. These adjustments will need to be voted on by CLOC. Typically in even years, the classifications are already set and ready to go for the following cycle, so there would be very few adjustments, if any.
• The amateur status bylaw was reworked, and now reads that student-athletes “must maintain his/her amateur status” and notes that they “may not sign a professional athletic contract.” A new note defines a professional as “being paid in any form for playing in an athletic contest, or if you sign a contract or verbally commit with an agent or professional sports organization.” Notably, student-athletes will be allowed to play with or against professionals in certain situations, such as in the Olympics or a World Cup.
• The coach ejection bylaw was updated to give it a more consistent level of suspension across all sports. Now, the first ejection is penalized by a suspension equal to 10% of that sports season, and a second ejection is 20%.
• All-Star games were added to bylaw 2300, allowing for “up to two All-Star Games after the completion of the state championship in that sport.” No all-star games are permitted in football.
• Middle schoolers from “feeder” schools will be permitted to practice with high school teams in volleyball, basketball, soccer and football “when they cannot field enough high school athletes to hold an intra-squad practice in game-type conditions.” There are a number of limitations guiding this new bylaw.
• The number of practices required for students to participate in prior to competition in contact sports was reduced from five to three in all sports but football, which will still require nine.
• Schools can now form a team with only one participant, if they choose to.
• Adding a new sport or activity will now require approval from the Budget Committee in addition to CLOC, Sports Medicine, Equity and the Board of Directors.
• The full membership of the following schools is now official: DSST – Byers, KIPP Northeast, Loveland Classical, Strive Prep – Rise, Strive Prep – Smart, and Thomas MacLaren. KIPP Northeast and Strive Prep – Rise play together are a co-op: Regis Groff.
• Officials’ fees increased with a 2% cost of living adjustment across the board, for all levels.
• The alignment of State Festival and State Tournament will now be permanent in speech.
• Student Leadership’s fall conference will move to a regional model beginning this year.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

For several weeks, Americans have been awaiting answers to several questions. When will restaurants restart dine-in services? When will hair salons and gyms be open? When will people be able to congregate for worship services? And, of course, when will education-based sports and activities return?

And the answer to the all-important last question is the same as the first three – it varies from state to state.

If there was ever any doubt about the popularity and interest in high school sports and performing arts – and how much these programs have been missed during the past three months – it was erased last week as the NFHS released its Guidance for Opening Up High School Athletics and Activities document.

The response was non-stop through the mainstream media as well as our social media platforms as the first nationwide discussion about the return of high school sports and other activities was in full swing.

Since that disappointing week in mid-March when it seemed like all of life came to a halt, millions of people – from high school students, coaches, parents, administrators, officials and fans – have been looking forward to the return of school-based sports and other activity programs. And the guidance document offered some hope that soon the light at the end of tunnel will not be the oncoming train we have felt for many weeks.

Now, state high school associations are developing timetables and protocols for return of activities in their states. And those guidelines will be different from state to state. This is not a one-size-fits-all plan. Depending on the specific circumstances of a state with respect to the containment of the virus, its progression through the various phases of returning to activities could be much different than another state.

As the guidance document developed by the NFHS Sports Medicine Advisory Committee noted, our hope is that students can return to school-based athletics and activities in any and all situations where it can be done smartly. When it comes to education-based sports and performing arts within our nation’s schools, nothing is more important than the health and safety of the participants AND the individuals conducting those programs.

Some individuals have expressed concern that our guidance document is too cautious, noting that some non-school youth programs have already restarted in some areas.

In one state this past week, a non-school sports program was allowed to restart because the “data shows children are less affected by the coronavirus.” While the preponderance of evidence shows that to be true, plans in education-based activities will include also protection for adults who coach, officiate and administer those events, which may be seen as a more conservative approach.

Within high school sports, the drive of coaches and dreams of parents cannot run ahead of player safety. Last week, a successful high school football coach with three previous state titles was suspended for allegedly holding practices. And there have been reports of parents considering moving to another state with fewer COVID-19 cases to enhance the chance of their son playing football and earning a college scholarship.

The NFHS, through its Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, took action in developing its Guidance for Opening Up High School Athletics and Activities document. The various state high school associations are taking action in the coming weeks in developing plans for a return to activities at the state level.

Now, we would ask parents and other fans to take action – and that action is patience. The urge to return to normal is understandable, but the path back to where we were three months ago will take time, and that “time” will not happen at the expense of the safety and well-being of everyone involved in high school sports and performing arts programs.