(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

INDIANAPOLIS — For the first time in its history, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) will host an abridged, virtual version of its annual Summer Meeting to accommodate public-gathering restrictions brought on by the Coronavirus.

Originally slated to be held June 28-July 2 in Denver, Colorado, the 2020 NFHS Summer Meeting will now be conducted Sunday, June 28, through Wednesday, July 1, utilizing a series of video conferences. The NFHS Board of Directors meeting, along with a few special-interest summits, will be held on Sunday, June 28.

NFHS Executive Director Karissa Niehoff will lead the Opening General Session at 12 p.m. EST on June 29 to begin the festivities and will join Mark Beckman, executive director of the Montana High School Association and president of the NFHS Board of Directors for 2019-20, to provide “NFHS Updates” at 1 p.m. on June 30.

During the three-day conference, which will run online from 12 p.m. to about 5 p.m. each day, more than 20 workshops in five different sessions will be offered to state association staff members and board members on a variety of pertinent topics. Other sessions include the Sports Information Directors Workshop and Women’s Leadership Summit on June 29, and the National Council Meeting and Legal/Sports Medicine Workshop on July 1.

This marks the second straight year that the NFHS Summer Meeting will have a different look and feel. Last year, the NFHS celebrated its 100^th Summer Meeting with its Centennial Celebration at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis, with a number of additional events from the normal annual gathering of staff members and board members from member state high school associations. The 101^stSummer Meeting this year will be even more unique.

“We are disappointed that we are not going to be able to hold our normal in-person Summer Meeting this year as our membership and our staff look forward to this time to reflect on the past year and plan for the upcoming year,” Niehoff said. “Our membership, however, was receptive to continuing this annual meeting virtually. Certainly, some of our workshops, roundtables and summits will address the difficult issues facing our state associations regarding re-opening of sports and activities this fall. While it will not be the same as our normal face-to-face setting, we are looking forward to this unique opportunity.”

Several events that are normally conducted at the NFHS Summer Meeting will not be held this year due to the cancellation of the in-person meeting. Most prominent among those events is the annual induction ceremony of the National High School Hall of Fame. The NFHS had announced its 38^th class of the Hall of Fame about one week prior to the national shutdown in mid-March; however, with the cancellation of the in-person Summer Meeting, these individuals will now be inducted at the 2021 Summer Meeting in Orlando, Florida.

Twelve individuals were named to the Hall of Fame earlier this year, including seven former high school athletes – Karyn Bye Dietz of Wisconsin, Tim Couch of Kentucky, Alex English of South Carolina,Maicel (Malone) Green of Indiana, Matt Holliday of Oklahoma, Dave Logan of Colorado and Michele Smith of New Jersey. Others selected to the Hall of Fame who will be honored next summer include three outstanding high school coaches – Rickey Baker of Arizona, Charles Berry of Arkansas and Terry Michler of Missouri – along with Bill Farney, a state administrator from Texas, and Robert Littlefield, a speech and debate educator from North Dakota.

In addition, 12 leaders in high school activity programs who were previously announced to receive NFHS Citations at the Summer Meeting will be honored at the 2021 Summer Meeting in Orlando as well. Eight of the 12 award recipients represent NFHS member state high school associations, and four represent NFHS professional organizations for officials, coaches, music leaders and speech/debate/theatre directors.

The eight state association recipients are Tom Mezzanotte, Section 1, executive director, Rhode Island Interscholastic League, Warwick, Rhode Island; Mark Byers, Section 2, chief operating officer, Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; Nessie HarrisarrHa, Section 3, retired associate commissioner, South Carolina High School League, Columbia, South Carolina;Kurt Gibson, Section 4, associate commissioner, Illinois High School Association, Bloomington, Illinois; Kathy Long, Section 5, administrative assistant, Missouri State High School Activities Association, Columbia, Missouri; Paul Angelico, Section 6, retired commissioner, Colorado High School Activities Association, Aurora, Colorado; Thomas Yoshida, Section 7, Hawaii High School Athletic Association, Honolulu, Hawaii; and Russell Schreckenghost, Section 8, associate director, Alaska School Activities Association, Anchorage, Alaska.

The four Citation recipients representing the NFHS professional organizations are Joe Tonelli, NFHS Officials Association, executive staff member, Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, Cheshire, Connecticut; Rob Younger, NFHS Coaches Association, executive director, Oregon Athletic Coaches Association, Sweet Home, Oregon; Cathleen Britton, NFHS Music Association, retired director of music, O’Gorman High School, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Cheryl Frazier, NFHS Speech/Debate/Theatre/Academics Association, director of forensics and theatre, Southland College Prep High School, Richton Park, Illinois.

(Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

INDIANAPOLIS — Beginning next year, high school basketball rules will further clarify when a contest is to be forfeited, including if a qualified individual is not present to coach.

A proposal for a national rule mandating a shot clock as well as a proposal to allow a shot clock by state adoption were not approved.

“Information was given to the Basketball Rules Committee that shared the votes in individual states on how coaches and officials voted in support of or non-support of the shot clock rule,” said Theresia Wynns, NFHS director of sports and liaison to the Basketball Rules Committee. “The conversation among the committee members explored the pros and cons of enacting the proposal as a rule for all states and likewise for state adoption. The committee will continue to explore the shot clock issue.”

These were among the topics discussed by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Basketball Rules Committee at its annual meeting April 14-16. The rules meeting was held in an online format to comply with current health safety guidelines. All recommendations were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

Rule 5-4-1 was one of three rules updated by the committee. It now states that a game is declared a forfeit if a coach is removed from the contest for unsporting conduct and no authorized school personnel are present to assume responsibility of the team.

“Most states have bylaws to cover the instance when no adult school staff is on the bench to attend to the team. Officials are not likely to read those bylaws and consequently not know that rule,” Wynns said. “Having the basketball rules cover such a situation helps the contest officials and coaches alike if such a situation were to arise.”

Rule 10-6-1 Penalty was also amended to clarify that an official is not required to provide a warning to a coach before a technical foul is given.

“This amends an existing rule that gave the impression that a warning was a prerequisite to ruling a technical foul,” Wynns. “Using the word ‘may’ helps one to understand that a warning is only an option.”

A timer’s responsibilities were addressed in Rule 2-12-5 when a player is disqualified or injured. A warning signal is sounded to begin a 15-second interval to replace a disqualified or injured player. A second warning signal was added when the 15 seconds expires to prepare teams for the resumption of play.

A complete listing of the basketball rules changes will be available on the NFHS website atwww.nfhs.org. Click on “Activities & Sports” at the top of the home page and select “Basketball.”

According to the 2018-19 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, a total of 540,769 boys participated in basketball in 18,617 schools, and 399,067 girls participated in the sport in 18,210 schools across the country. It is the third-most popular sport for boys and girls.

(Geoff Sager/GPSImaging16.com)

On Monday, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association became the 51st and final NFHS member state high school association to cancel its spring sports championships due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The cancellation announcements that began in late March, stretched to early May as states made every attempt possible to conduct spring sports and other activity programs.

Driven by a desire to offer perhaps a few weeks of competition – particularly for graduating seniors – many states waited as long as possible to move from postponed to cancelled, ultimately forced to make decisions when schools were closed to in-person learning for the remainder of the academic year.

While the leaders of our state associations knew that spring activities could not occur if schools did not re-open, and that the health and safety of the millions of participants ultimately drove these decisions, having to make these announcements was perhaps the most difficult task they had experienced as state leaders.

“We are disappointed for the thousands of New Jersey student-athletes who will be unable to compete this spring,” said Larry White, executive director of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. “While we remained hopeful to the end, and left open every possibility, competition simply is not feasible given the circumstances. It has been a harrowing time for everyone, and we know our student-athletes are extremely disappointed. That said, these unfortunate circumstances may have put an intriguing challenge in the path of our young people. As New Jersey’s own Vince Lombardi once said, ‘It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.’ We’re confident all our kids will get back up and stand tall.”

Rhonda Blanford-Green, commissioner of the Colorado High School Activities Association, showed her emotions in making the difficult decision in her state:

“This decision, unlike the many decisions our office makes over the course of a year, has been extremely difficult because we are personally connected as former participants and officials, current parents and grandparents of graduating seniors, as well as educators and members of our high school communities. Our hats are off to the many seniors who have shown maturity and resolve as their culminating year of high school has been impacted beyond activities and athletics due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. The Class of 2020 will not be forgotten.”

Craig Anderson, executive director of the Illinois High School Association, said, “Our thoughts are with all the impacted students, coaches and communities, especially the seniors. It will be difficult for them to find a silver lining in all of this, but we stress that even if they don’t get the chance to compete again at the high school level, they are better for having been a part of their respective high school teams. They were exposed to life lessons in teamwork, leadership and overcoming adversity that are difficult to replicate elsewhere.”

What was at stake and who was affected by these cancellation announcements? More than 500 girls and boys spring sports championships in about 18 sports and involving about three million student-athletes.

Along with multiple classes for both boys and girls in track and field, other sports affected this spring were baseball, softball, lacrosse, golf, tennis, soccer, flag football, boys volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, gymnastics, riflery, judo, Unified track and field and ultimate Frisbee. Also grounded were perhaps another million participants in band, choir, orchestra, speech, debate, robotics and other activity programs.

And last, but far from least, we remember the thousands of volunteers who make these events happen every year – ticket-takers, concession stand workers, booster club parents, meet officials and the leaders in communities throughout the country where these events were planned.

We thank these individuals for their faithful service year after year, and we look forward to the day we are all back together again.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

INDIANAPOLIS — As the result of a concerted effort to accommodate the growing number of female wrestlers, the 2020-21 high school wrestling rules changes are headlined by significant adjustments to weigh-in protocol and appropriate hair-length requirements.

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Wrestling Rules Committee met April 5-6 and recommended 11 rules changes to take effect next school year. In accordance with current health safety guidelines, the rules meeting was held in an online format. All rules revisions recommended by the Wrestling Rules Committee were approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

“These rule changes are some of the most prolific modifications in the history of high school wrestling,” said Elliot Hopkins, NFHS director of sports and student services and liaison to the Wrestling Rules Committee. “The rules committee made necessary, drastic changes to attract more young people to our sport without sacrificing the health and safety of the participants.”

The weigh-in procedure was altered through a combination of changes to Rule 4-5 (Weighing-In) of the Wrestling Rule Book. Following an amendment to the legal uniform laid out in Rule 4-1-1c, which now permits female wrestlers to wear a form-fitted compression shirt that completely covers their breasts in addition to a one-piece singlet and a suitable undergarment, Rule 4-5-7 was rewritten to require that a legal uniform be worn during weigh-in and that no additional weight allowance be granted. An additional clause prohibiting shoes and ear guards during weigh-in was also written into 4-5-7.

Weighing-in with a legal uniform allowed the committee to break down more gender barriers with subsequent changes to Rules 4-5-1, 4-5-2 and 4-5-4. Previously, weigh-ins consisted of shoulder-to-shoulder lineups of each contestant that were separated by gender (4-5-2), took place a maximum of one hour prior to competition (4-5-1) and required supervision by a referee of each respective gender (4-5-4).

With the institution of the legal uniform (one-piece singlet or two-piece), male and female wrestlers are now able to weigh-in together in the same lineup, allowing gender-specific language to be removed from all three rules. Additionally, the form-fitted compression shirt offers females a more suitable uniform for post-weigh-in skin checks, which are typically done by male officials.

“The change to the weighing-in process is remarkably timely, as schools have struggled in the past to identify adult females to weigh-in the female wrestlers,” Hopkins said. “This action accommodates transgender children as well; it respects their rights and dignity and addresses any modesty concerns for any affected children. We anticipate that the entire weigh-in process will be expedited and more efficient.”

Significant changes to the hair-length rule (Rule 4-2-1) were also linked to the committee’s focus on inclusion. Previously, a wrestler’s hair could not “extend below the top of an ordinary shirt collar” in the back, below earlobe level on the sides or below the eyebrows in the front. Those confinements, along with the requirement that a hair cover be used for hair that exceeded said limitations, were deleted. Considerable support for this rule change from coaches and officials was generated by an initiative of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, which successfully experimented with relaxed hair restrictions this past winter.

“Removing the hair-length rule is a monumental change,” Hopkins said. “It is important to embrace the current culture of young boys and girls who are expressing themselves through their appearance, making this the perfect opportunity to extend wrestling to young people who otherwise would not be attracted to our sport. While the hair-length restriction has been removed, the requirement that hair-control devices/treatment items cannot be hard, abrasive or sharp remains. If a hair cover is used, it shall be attached to the ear guards. Additionally, the barring of oils, or greasy substances on or in the hair is still in effect.”

Another modification to the wrestling uniform came through Rule 4-1-3. In order to curtail participants from intentionally lacing their shoes too loosely to cause a stoppage in the action and potentially thwart an opponent’s scoring opportunity, a technical violation will be assessed in any instance where a shoe comes off, and the injury clock will be started to correct the situation. This change is made under the assumption that a wrestler is, in fact, properly equipped to wrestle when the match begins, as a wrestling shoe that is properly laced and secured will not typically come off.

Technical violations were the subject of change in Rule 7-3-1 as well. To avoid penalizing a participant twice for the same sequence of events, wording was added to 7-3-1 declaring that points will not be awarded to a wrestler whose opponent has fled the mat if that wrestler has already scored for a near-fall or takedown.

Under Rule 8-1-4, a match will now automatically be stopped and restarted in the event a wrestler commits a fourth stalling violation. Previously, if the offender was called for a fourth stall of the match while in the defensive or neutral position, there was no guarantee his or her opponent would be awarded choice of position through a restart if the violation occurred during the third period.

“This rule remedies that if the fourth stall occurs in the third period there might not be an opportunity to restart before the end of the match,” Hopkins said. “This rule change assures that the offending wrestler is held accountable and subsequent points are awarded to the opponent.”

Based on the hair-length changes, Rule 5-29-1, which addresses unnecessary roughness, was edited to include “pulling an opponent’s hair” as an additional example of the offense.

Finally, a new article was added to Rule 8-2 dealing with participant injuries. Rule 8-2-9 has been designed to discourage wrestlers from requesting injury time from the official as an attempt to stop an opponent from scoring. If the referee determines a wrestler would have scored had the injury time-out not taken place, the injured contestant will be charged an injury time-out and applicable points will be awarded to the non-injured party.

According to the 2018-19 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, wrestling is the seventh-most popular sport for boys with 247,441 participants in 10,843 schools. In addition, the number of female wrestlers increased by almost 5,000 participants in 2018-19, as 21,124 girls competed in 2,890 schools.

(CHSAANow.com)

INDIANAPOLIS — Due to the cancellation of spring sports at high schools across the country, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) will not be publishing new rules (both print and digital) for 2021 in the sports of baseball, softball, track and field, girls lacrosse and boys lacrosse.

Because very few schools were able to compete in these sports prior to the March shutdown of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, competition in these sports in 2021 will be conducted under 2020 NFHS rules for baseball, softball, track and field, girls lacrosse and boys lacrosse.

“Since most schools were not able to practice or play a game in these sports, we thought it was best to carry the 2020 rules publications forward to next year,” said Dr. Karissa Niehoff, NFHS executive director. “Our rules committees in these sports will conduct virtual meetings this summer but will not be approving any additional rules changes.”

Among the five aforementioned sports, a total of eight 2020 NFHS publications will be used for the 2021 season, including the Baseball Rules Book, Baseball Case Book, Softball Rules Book, Softball Case Book, Track and Field/Cross Country Rules Book, Track and Field/Cross Country Case Book, Girls Lacrosse Rules Book and Boys Lacrosse Rules Book. In addition, the 2020 NFHS Simplified and Illustrated Rules and 2020 Rules by Topic books for baseball and softball produced in concert with Referee Enterprises Inc. (REI) will be used in 2021 as well.

The NFHS Baseball Umpires Manual and the NFHS Track and Field/Cross Country Officials Manual will be published this year as scheduled since these are two-year publications.

As a result of this change, the NFHS will be working with its member state associations to fulfill needs for additional 2020 spring sports rules publications in advance of the 2021 season.

The NFHS has been publishing playing rules for high school sports since the 1930s when the first high school football rules were published. Currently, the NFHS publishes rules in printed and digital forms in 17 sports for girls and boys competition.

(CHSAANow.com)

Not unlike the process for relaxing the stay-at-home orders and re-opening the economy at the national level, the timing of the return of high school sports and activities may differ from state to state.

Currently, 21 NFHS member state associations have cancelled all spring sports events, while the other 30 remain in a “suspended/postponed” category. In most cases, these differences rest with whether schools have been closed for the semester or remain hopeful of re-opening in the coming weeks.

While some states are optimistic that seniors will be able to squeeze in some final athletic competition, those decisions will all be guided by one overriding factor – the health and safety of the student participants.

Although the timing for the almost eight million high school student-athletes to return to sports competition remains in question, we are excited to announce that at least some high school students involved in other school activities will have a way to continue participation in an online setting.

In addition to its role as the national leader and advocate for high school sports in the United States, the NFHS serves in a like manner for activities such as music, speech, debate, theatre and academic programs. Similar to high school athletes involved in baseball, softball, lacrosse, and track and field, students in high school music programs faced an end to competition with the shutdown of schools.

However, in a landmark decision, several prominent music publishers are allowing temporary use of their copyrighted music for educational purposes. This will allow high school musicians to complete their year-end assessments, as well as classroom instruction while schools are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students involved in these important activity programs can continue participation online and maintain compliance with copyright laws.

The NFHS appreciates the action on the part of these music publishers – Alfred, Barnhouse, Hal Leonard, Warner-Chappell Music and Warner Entertainment – so that high school music students can remain engaged during these extraordinary times.

The permissions, which expire on June 15, are designed to enable students to complete the remainder of the school year. The five publishers account for about 95 percent of available educational music.

More than four million high school students participate in activities other than sports; and with their year-end events canceled or postponed, the relaxing of copyright restrictions has delivered a ray of sunshine to many music students across the country.

The NFHS has been a national leader in helping schools maintain compliance with copyright standards. In 2017, the free “Understanding Copyright and Compliance” online education course was first offered on the NFHS Learning Center (www.NFHSLearn.com). Last year, two new segments were added to the course, which now includes separate tracks for music teachers, spirit coaches, school administrators, speech and debate directors, and theatre directors.

As we begin to look at resuming high school activity programs down the road, an openness to meeting the needs of high school activity participants in different ways may become the norm. We thank these major music publishers for getting us started down that path.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

INDIANAPOLIS — Providing more clarity on a proper race finish and official timing procedures are among the noteworthy high school swimming and diving rules changes for the 2020-21 school year.

These topics were among those discussed by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Swimming and Diving Rules Committee at its annual meeting March 22-23, where a total of six rules changes were recommended for approval. The rules meeting was held in an online format to comply with current health safety guidelines. All recommendations were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

Rule 1-1-1 was edited to profile the end wall in more detail. Previously described as “the walls perpendicular to the race course,” the new definition broadens the term to include “the vertical portion of the pool, contiguous surface of the deck and overflow gutter, the front of the starting block or platform, or the touchpad at the end of the course.”

“This additional language provides clarity on what constitutes the end wall,” said Sandy Searcy, NFHS director of sports and liaison to the Swimming and Diving Rules Committee. “The 2019-20 rules book changed the definition of the finish of the race by permitting the swimmer to finish at the end wall, not the touchpad. That change necessitated a more concise definition of the end wall.”

The end wall was also referenced in the change to Rule 6-3-2, which specified acceptable methods for measuring “official” times. When a legal touch is made with the end wall to signify a legal finish, buttons and/or stopwatches, which are commonly used for backup timing, are now explicitly listed as alternatives to touchpads.

Clarity to the usage of backup timing devices was also addressed in a change to Rule 6-3-4. Whereas official times could previously only be taken from backup mechanisms in the event of a malfunction to the automatic timing equipment, the rule’s new language was written to incorporate all other instances where an official time is not properly recorded.

“This rule change more accurately describes the protocol for determining an official time when the competitor contacts the end wall and not the touchpad,” Searcy said. “Backup buttons or stopwatches may need to be used in situations where the swimmer does not activate the touchpad or the touchpad malfunctions. This phrase clarifies conditions when the swimmer does not touch the touchpad initially.”

New articles were added to Rules 1-4-5 and 1-4-6 to differentiate the terms diving “round” from diving “session” and bring consistency to those definitions. Used frequently throughout Rule 9 of the rules book, a diving session refers to one of the various levels – preliminary, semifinal and final – within an 11-dive competition, while a diving round is the completion of one dive by each participant. Additionally, divers are now permitted to practice in between diving sessions at the discretion of meet management.

Alterations were made to the uniform code under Rules 3-3-3 and 3-3-4c regarding accepted and prohibited manufacturers’ logos. In addition to the mark signifying approval from the international governing body for aquatic sports, FINA, the USA Swimming checkmark logo is now considered an acceptable suit marking.

“This rule is a clarification of what the swimming community may see on suits this fall as a result of a rule change made by USA Swimming,” Searcy said. “A small checkmark will be positioned next to the FINA marking on some suits and is not considered as an additional manufacturer’s logo or advertising.”

Finally, headings were added to Rules 9-3-3 and 9-3-5 to help explain the two-step process for entering divers at championship meets. The process includes entering the divers and swimmers’ first and last names, events and school affiliations onto an official team entry document, and then submitting the document at the time and place specified by the meet manager. Subsequently, divers will submit a scoresheet/dive list to complete the process of their entry into the diving event.

According to the 2018-19 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, swimming and diving is the 10^th-most popular sport for boys with 136,638 participants in 7,704 schools, and the eighth-most popular sport for girls with 173,088 participants in 8,007 schools.

INDIANAPOLIS — Several prominent music publishers have temporarily allowed the use of their copyrighted music for educational purposes through an agreement with the NFHS and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). These guidelines are designed to allow high school musicians to complete their year-end assessments and for classroom instruction while schools are closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The agreement will expire on June 15.

“The publishers have been gracious with their permissions to allow students the ability to complete their year-end assessments while remaining copyright compliant,” said Dr. James Weaver, director of performing arts and sports.  “The NFHS has worked for many years to help schools be copyright compliant. This move by the publishers should be applauded for the assistance they are providing schools in this unprecedented time.”

For music to be distributed for K-12 assessment and adjudication, student recordings must meet the following guidelines:

• Performances can only be shared for educational assessment or state adjudication purposes.
• Performances must be shared in as private of a setting as possible and must be viewable only by an individual link.
• The recorded performance must use legally purchased music.
• Any arrangements made shall have proper permissions secured prior to recording.
• Once the recorded performance has been adjudicated, it must be deleted from the sharing platform.

“These requirements are designed to allow schools and students to still participate in their music education as well as protect the intellectual property of the music publishers,” said Weaver. “The permissions afforded by the publishers are temporary in order to get us through the remainder of the school year.”

The five publishing houses that have agreed to allow their music to be used include:

• Alfred
• Barnhouse
• Hal Leonard
• Warner-Chappell Music
• Warner Entertainment

Collectively, the publishers account for approximately 95 percent of available educational music.

(Paul Soriano)

During this shutdown of normal life in our nation, we are learning to deal with a new challenge – how to handle the unexpected time on our hands at home. Simply keeping up with the days of the week is a major accomplishment!

While we anxiously await the re-opening of schools and a return of high school sports and performing arts, this down time can be used in positive ways to take advantage of educational opportunities. And kudos to some individuals who already are seizing those opportunities – men and women who officiate high school sports.

Two weeks ago, we began to offer the 11 officiating courses on the NFHS Learning Center (NFHSLearn.com) free of charge, and the response has been nothing short of amazing. By the end of March – merely a week into this new opportunity – more than 5,200 courses had been taken.

In addition to veteran officials fine-tuning techniques in one or more of the seven sports featured in these courses, this has been a great opportunity for individuals interested in officiating to take a free course to determine their interest level. 

Those of us in leadership positions are so appreciative of these individuals who give freely of their free time to officiate high school sports or adjudicate music contests. We would suggest that everyone – student-athletes, coaches, parents and other fans – use this down time to do the same.

At various times this year before the shutdown of schools, officials have been the victim of verbal and physical abuse. Inappropriate behavior by parents and other fans was causing officials to quit before they even reached two years on the job.

And yet, in the past three years, more than 35,000 individuals have signed up to become officials through the NFHS’ #BecomeAnOfficial campaign and 5,200 courses that have been taken in the past couple of weeks by men and women who want to give back to high school sports. These are good signs more people will continue to be involved in officiating when the games return.

But what about the parents and other fans in the stands? Will their behavior be changed upon return? The conclusion of the New Mexico Activities Association’s state basketball tournament last month provided an interesting perspective on the impact of fans to the atmosphere at high school sporting events.

After completing the first two days of its state tournament with fans in the stands, the NMAA conducted the final three days without fans because of concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Dana Pappas, commissioner of officials for the NMAA, noted the following about the final three days of competition:

“Officials would make a call and if coaches had a question about it, they asked – calmly and respectfully. In huddles during time-outs, coaches just talked to their players, without raised voices. The behavior of coaches on the sidelines from Thursday through Saturday was in stark contrast to what we witnessed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Perhaps they did not feel the need to be overly emotional for the benefit of their fans.

“My hope is that the absence of sport throughout the world gives us all a moment to gain perspective and do a ‘gut check’ as to the kind of fans we are at contests. If the quality of the game is unchanged (or even better) without fans there to scream at the coaches, officials and players, then is that behavior really necessary when the games resume?”

The message here is that while the games can continue without fans, the ideal situation is for stands full of fans positively cheering for their teams.

(Paul Soriano)

INDIANAPOLIS — High school spirit rules changes for the 2020-21 school year remain centered on increasing safety for cheerleading and dance teams across the country.

This year, minimizing injury risk for stunting personnel and during inversions and releases were among the 16 rules changes recommended by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Spirit Rules Committee, which met February 10-11 in Orlando, Florida. All changes recommended by the committee were approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

“The committee has been working for years to make spirit activities safer for our student participants, while maintaining a high level of competition and crowd leading,” said James Weaver, NFHS director of performing arts and sports. “This will continue to be a primary focus of the Spirit Rules Committee.”

Stunting personnel safety was addressed in Rule 3-2-1c, a new addition to the NFHS Spirit Rules Book. The rule states that bases may not hold signs or other objects while supporting an extended stunt, which allows them to focus on providing stability for those at the top of the stunt.

Modifications to inversions constituted a large portion of the 2020-21 rules changes, highlighted by Rule 3-3-6c1 and Rule 3-3-6c2 (cheer), and Rule 4-3-6c1 and Rule 4-3-6c2 (dance).

Under Rule 3-3-6c2/4-3-6c2, a spotter has been added as a point of sufficient contact for a top person who is inverted, and the required contact with the top person has been changed to any part of the body. Prior to this change, only a base and the top person’s upper body were listed as viable contact points.

Three more inversion-related changes were made to Rules 3-3-5a, 3-3-5g and 3-3-5h, which deal with acceptable conditions for braced flips within a pyramid. The change to 3-3-5a mandates that in situations where a single bracer is used for a braced flip, there must now be a hand/arm connection between both hands/arms of the top and bracer. A top person may now perform up to one complete twist within a braced flip as described in 3-3-5g, which is an increase from a half-twist in the previous version of the rule. Finally, in order to limit the movement of the top person around the bracers while performing a flipping inversion in a pyramid, 3-3-5h was edited such that a released top person may make no more than a one-quarter turn around the bracer.

A change to Rule 3-3-6a added further specifications to other inversions. Top people performing released inversions must now be released to the original base(s) and are now permitted to twist a maximum of one-quarter turn.

A new rule regarding tumbling was added for both cheer and dance. When executing airborne skills, actions that require hip-over-head rotation may no longer be connected to one another. The basis for this rule is to eliminate standing tucks where athletes connect arms and simultaneously do a standing tuck, which puts the connected participant at serious risk for a head/neck injury.

Regarding drops in cheer and dance, participants are now permitted to land in a pushup position from a handspring; however, doing so from a flip is still prohibited. This alteration clarifies that a drop is a landing on the performing surface from an airborne position.

There were two rules changes to Rule 3-5-5. When releasing from a horizontal or cradle position, the top person is now permitted to go to a stunt at any level to the original bases and may perform up to one-quarter twist. The change aligns this rule with its inversion equivalent. In addition, when a braced released top person lands in a cradle position, the connection between the top and bracer may be hand to foot.

A complete listing of the spirit rules changes, including edited term definitions, will be available on the NFHS website at nfhs.org. Click on “Activities & Sports” at the top of the home page and select “Spirit.”

Competitive spirit ranks ninth in participants for girls with 161,358 in 7,214 schools.