Throughout the process of communicating our plan regarding the state basketball tournaments in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have maintained that the tournaments would be played unless a state agency or a host venue made a decision affecting that status.
On Thursday evening, the CHSAA office was informed by the University of Denver that the school would no longer be able to host the Class 3A state basketball tournament.
With uncertainty at all additional sites, including a state of emergency declaration by the City of Denver, the difficult decision has been made to cancel the remainder of all state basketball tournaments in all classes.
“Everything we’ve done up to this point was to try and keep the experience of a state basketball tournament for our student participants and high school communities,” said CHSAA commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green. “In the face of this unprecedented public health emergency, we are compelled to discontinue play in all tournaments.”
The move is in line with similar decisions from the NCAA, which cancelled all remaining winter sports championships and spring sports championships. Additionally, other high school associations, such as Connecticut, Oregon, Texas, California and Kentucky have made similar announcements. Some of those, including Wisconsin and Kansas, canceled on Thursday night.
“We want to thank those who have supported us through the difficult decisions in these uncertain times,” Blanford-Green said.
Over the course of the past week, our office communicated consistently said that our plan is to hold our state championships events without changes unless directed otherwise by a state agency or facility administration.
On Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., Gov. Jared Polis announced that the state wants large public gatherings, including sporting events, “to establish protocols where they can establish safe spacing at events” to help limit the spread of COVID-19.
After the press conference, CHSAA commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green consulted with state educational and health departments, and they advised a higher standard of risk minimization than originally communicated with the additional cases that have been reported in Colorado over the last 24 hours.
Logistically — and with the state tournaments set to begin in less than 13 hours — this goal of social spacing is beyond the scope of our host facilities. In addition, at least one of our venues has indicated that we would not be able to host games with fans in attendance for the bulk of the tournament.
Therefore, we are making the difficult decision to limit attendance to essential team personnel only, without fans in attendance. Essential personnel means only those who have been submitted on the official CHSAA gate list by schools will be able to enter the venue. No spirit teams or bands will be permitted entry. Media will be permitted to attend, if they have a CHSAA-issued pass.
In response to several inquiries from family members of participants, each player will be allowed to have a maximum of four guests attend games. CHSAA assistant commissioner Bert Borgmann will be communicating directly with schools on instructions of how those guests will enter the venues, and how things will operate within the venue.
Games in all classifications will be available on the NFHS Network this weekend, meaning fans will not miss out on the tournament. Additionally, CHSAANow.com will be providing live coverage of the games.
The decision is being made based upon recommendations by health officials in all areas, and follows decisions made by neighboring states, and the NCAA, including their postseason events being held in Colorado.
“While this decision is a difficult one, we do want the students who have worked so hard to be able to have a culminating event that reflects the commitment they have made throughout the season,” Blanford-Green said.
“We knew that this was an evolving situation, and our goal was to have a tournament that goes on without interruption,” Blanford-Green said. “But circumstances have changed with this pandemic, and the focus must now be on how we give the kids the experience of a state champ event.”
A refund policy for tickets purchased will be communicated on Thursday.
Our office will continue to monitor this situation closely, and provide updates if necessary.
We continue to support our member schools and school districts, and the local decisions they are making in the best interest of their students and communities.
During his press conference, Gov. Polis stressed the need for community help in combating the virus.
“I know that many Coloradoans are upset, frustrated and, in fact, scared,” Polis said. “Some are disappointed that your conference or your graduations or your gatherings are cancelled … and those are normal feelings. We all understand that, and we all share that. But we need you to be part of working with us of doing everything we can at the state level to respond to this virus, and to reduce the trajectory of its spread.”
All spring sports and activities will be suspended until early April to address concerns surrounding the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, CHSAA commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green announced on Thursday.
The 2020 spring sports season — including all practices and competition — the state speech tournament, and student leadership’s Advisor U are suspended through April 6. All music festivals are canceled through April 6. Additionally, an outreach with the Colorado Athletic Directors Association will be conducted remotely at a date to be announced.
The decision is effective Friday, March 13. The decision to continue competition on Thursday is up to local schools and school districts.
The situation will be monitored and evaluated with key decision-makers from around the state to determine when, or if, to resume the spring season.
On Wednesday morning, Blanford-Green convened a digital conference with more than 50 administrators, representing diverse levels of leadership from all parts of the state to collaboratively create a plan. That group arrived at a consensus to support the decision made by the CHSAA office.
“I want to thank the Board of Directors, membership and CHSAA staff for their support and guidance,” Blanford-Green said. “The collaborative decision-making has been in the best interest of our students and school communities, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.”
Further information about the spring sports season will be communicated via CHSAANow, when available.
Dear Colorado high school basketball participants, coaches, fans, communities, and CHSAA supporters:
I am writing you today to keep an open line of communication from our office to you with regard to COVID-19 and our culminating championships.
We are in direct contact with relevant state agencies, as well as the host facilities, which would guide us in making any changes in the schedule to our state basketball tournaments. Last week, we let you know that our plan is to conduct the championship events unless directed by state agencies and/or facility administration of cancellations. On Tuesday, we reiterated that plan.
Per state guidance, and out of an abundance of caution, we are encouraging those above the age of 60, or those in at-risk populations, to avoid large crowds, as data shows they are more susceptible to contracting COVID-19, if exposed.
We will remain in contact with those monitoring the situation to make the best decisions on behalf of our students and our high school fans and communities.
Our student-athletes, high school fans and communities, are at the forefront of any decisions we would make moving forward, regardless of financial impact. We fully understand and believe in what our tournaments mean to our communities, and our goal is to uphold the experience of the participants and fans without compromising health or safety. We are open to all options going forward if a directive which impacts our state tournaments is made by state agencies.
We will continue to support the local administrative decisions made in the best interests of their school communities.
With today’s news that Gov. Jared Polis has declared a state of emergency in Colorado, the CHSAA office reiterates that Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green’s statement from last week remains true today.
Per the Commissioner’s statement on March 4, “Our plan is to conduct the championship events unless directed by state agencies and/or facility administration of cancellations.”
I am in contact with multiple state and local agencies in regards to any changes that may occur with CHSAA culminating championships. The state and local agencies as well as our facility administrators have me on their “high alert” communications. If there are closures, logistics will be communicated to the membership and posted to CHSAANow immediately.
My suggestion is that these discussions and contingency plans happen at the local level should a school terminate contact and the state event still contested. Our plan is to conduct the championship events unless directed by state agencies and/or facility administration of cancellations.
The safety and well-being of our participants, staffs, volunteers and fans will be in the forefront of all decisions.
Spring sports competition, and decisions regarding regular season events, are up to local schools and school districts. The CHSAA office sent out a school memo today that regular season games cancelled would not affect postseason qualification and seeding.
“The safety and well-being of high school students in school communities must be the priority,” Blanford-Green said. “We support our local school districts to make the best decisions for their school communities, and will work with them as needed.”
INDIANAPOLIS – Seven outstanding former high school athletes highlight the 2020 class of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) National High School Hall of Fame, including three who went on to earn gold medals in the Olympics and four others who excelled in professional football, basketball and baseball.
Joining the seven former athletes in this year’s class are three highly successful high school coaches, one former state association administrator and one speech and debate coach in the performing arts area. The 12 honorees will be inducted July 1 at the 38th induction ceremony of the National High School Hall of Fame, which will be held at the NFHS Summer Meeting in Denver, Colorado.
The four high school athletes who went on to professional stardom are Dave Logan of Colorado, Tim Couch ofKentucky, Matt Holliday of Oklahoma and Alex English of South Carolina. Other athletes in the 2020 class are three female stars who landed Olympic gold in the Olympics: Karyn Bye Dietz of Wisconsin, Maicel (Malone) Green of Indiana andMichele Smith of New Jersey.
Logan was a three-sport standout (football, basketball and baseball) at Wheat Ridge (Colorado) High School in the early 1970s and was drafted by teams in all three professional sports. He was a two-sport star at the University of Colorado and then was a wide receiver with the Cleveland Browns (eight years) and Denver Broncos (one year). In his second career also worthy of Hall of Fame notice, Logan has coached four different Denver-area schools to eight state high school football championships during the past 26 years.
Couch had a record-setting football career as a quarterback at Leslie County High School In Hyden, Kentucky, in the mid-1990s. Couch set three national career passing records – 872 completions, 12,104 yards and 133 touchdowns. He was named National Player of the Year as a senior. Couch also excelled in basketball, leading the state in scoring as a senior with 37 points per game. He had a stellar career at the University of Kentucky and played five years with the Cleveland Browns.
Holliday was a three-sport player – and two-sport star – at Stillwater (Oklahoma) High School in the late 1990s. As a quarterback in football for three years, Holliday passed for 68 touchdowns. He was a four-year starter in baseball and hit .443 as a senior with 12 home runs. He played with four teams during his 20-year professional baseball career, which ended in 2018 with the Colorado Rockies. Holliday was second in the MVP voting with the Rockies in 2007 and won a World Series in 2011 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
English is perhaps the greatest basketball in history in the state of South Carolina. He was a three-time all-state selection and Player of the Year at Dreher High School in Columbia, and he was the leading scorer in University of South Carolina history. English played 16 years in the National Basketball Association, including 10 years with the Denver Nuggets when he scored 2,000 points in eight consecutive seasons.
Dietz was a three-sport star at River Falls (Wisconsin) High School in the late 1980s and was a trailblazer for girls in the sport of ice hockey in the state. She was team captain and three-time all-conference while playing on the River Falls boys hockey team. She also played field hockey and softball. She later excelled in ice hockey at the University of New Hampshire and played on the 1998 Olympic women’s ice hockey team that won a gold medal.
Green was a track and field star at North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 1984 to 1987. She won 11 of a possible 12 state titles in the three sprints (100, 200, 400) during her four years at North Central. She set state records in all three events and helped North Central to two state championships. She later won a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics as a part of the 400-meter relay team.
Smith was a three-sport athlete at Voorhees High School in Glen Gardner, New Jersey. She participated in field hockey, basketball and softball, which became her top sport. Smith had a 51-6 record with 11 no-hitters as a pitcher and helped her team to the state title as a junior. She had an outstanding career at Oklahoma State University with an 82-20 record and was the starting pitcher for the U.S. Olympic teams that won gold medals in 1996 and 2000.
Three outstanding high school coaches are a part of the 2020 class, including Rickey Baker, who led Hopi High School in Keams Canyon, Arizona, to a national-record 27 consecutive state cross country championships from 1990 to 2017. Another coach in this year’s class is Charles Berry, who retired in 2018 after a 57-year career as a girls and boys basketball coach in Arkansas. With most of his years at Huntsville High School, Berry won 1,377 games as a boys and girls basketball coach. The final coach in the class is Terry Michler, the winningest boys soccer coach in history from Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis, Missouri. Michler has won 1,004 games and nine state championships during his 48-year career.
Completing the 2020 class are Bill Farney, who served on the administrative staff of the Texas University Interscholastic League for 32 years, including 14 years as executive director, and Robert Littlefield, one of the top speech and debate educators in North Dakota and nationally for 45 years.
Following is biographical information on the 12 inductees in the 2020 class of the NFHS National High School Hall of Fame.
[divider]
ATHLETES
Tim Couch
During his football career at Leslie County High School in Hyden, Kentucky in the mid-1990s, Tim Couch set three national career passing records – 872 completions, 12,104 yards and 133 touchdowns. He helped Leslie County to a 13-1 record as a junior while completing an amazing 75 percent of his passes – a national record that stood for 15 years. As a senior, he passed for 42 touchdowns and led his team to an 11-3 mark, and was named Gatorade and USA Today National Player of the Year while earning Mr. Football honors in Kentucky. ESPN.com selected Couch the sixth-best high school athlete in history. Couch was equally dominant on the basketball court. He scored 3,023 points in his career, leading the state in scoring as a senior at 37 points per game. He was two-time all-state in basketball. Couch’s football prowess continued at the University of Kentucky, where he passed for 8,159 yards and 73 touchdowns in his final two seasons. He led Kentucky to the Outback Bowl after his junior season and was fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Couch was the No. 1 pick in the 1999 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns and passed for more than 11,000 yards and 64 touchdowns in his five years with the Browns.
Karyn Bye Dietz
Karyn Bye Dietz was a three-sport star at River Falls (Wisconsin) High School in the late 1980s and was a trailblazer for girls in the sport of ice hockey in the state. Amazingly, Dietz was a three-time all-conference and team captain of the boys ice hockey team at River Falls. With the formation of girls hockey teams still almost 20 years down the road, Dietz became one of the state’s top players on the boys team. She also earned four letters in tennis and was a three-time state qualifier, and she was captain of the River Falls softball team and was three-time all-conference and all-state as a senior. She batted over .500 in both her junior and senior seasons. Dietz was the leading scorer all four years on the women’s ice hockey team at the University of New Hampshire and was team captain in her final two seasons. Dietz was a member of the USA National Ice Hockey Team for many years and was Player of the Year in 1995 and 1998. She was a member of the U.S. Olympic teams that earned a gold medal at the 1998 Games in Japan and a silver medal at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.
Alex English
Prior to his stellar college and professional careers, Alex English was one of the top high school basketball players in South Carolina history during his days at Dreher High School in Columbia. English was a first-team all-state selection three consecutive years, Player of the Year in South Carolina in 1971 and 1972, and was a two-time all-American. He set the all-time scoring records at Dreher, and his No. 22 jersey was later retired. English stayed home for his college career and is still known as the greatest player in the University of South Carolina history. He ranks first in scoring and third in rebounding in Gamecocks’ history and was a two-time all-American, and he had his second No. 22 jersey retired by USC. While he played for four teams during his 16-year professional career, English will always be remembered for his decade of the 1980s with the Denver Nuggets. He was the NBA’s leading scorer in the 1980s with 19,682 points and was the first player in league history to score 2,000 points in eight straight seasons. English set 31 records in 10 seasons with the Nuggets and is the team’s all-time leader in points (21,645) and assists (3,679). English was an eight-time all-star – all with the Nuggets – and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997.
Maicel (Malone) Green
As a member of the girls track and field team at North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 1984 to 1987, Maicel Malone was one of the most decorated athletes in Indiana high school track and field history and was, perhaps, the first superstar in any Indiana girls sport. She was an 11-time state champion in the 12 sprint events during her four years of competing in the state track and field meet. She won the 100 and 400 meters all four years and the 200 meters three years (finished second as a sophomore). She is still the Indiana state record holder in the 200 (23.12 in 1986) and the 400 (52.42 in 1986), and her 100-meter state record (11.52 in 1986) stood until 2015. She is the only Indiana female athlete to set three state records (100, 200, 400) in the same meet (1986). Malone (now Maicel Green) helped North Central to two state championships – as a freshman in 1984 and in her senior season in 1987. She was a four-time NCAA champion in the 400 meters (three indoor, one outdoor) at Arizona State University, and she was a member of the 400-meter relay team that won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. She won five other gold medals in international competition and was inducted into the Indiana Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1993.
Matt Holliday
Matt Holliday would rank high on a list of the top high school athletes in Oklahoma history, thanks to his days as a three-sport player and two-sport star at Stillwater High School in the late 1990s. He was a three-year starter at quarterback in football and led his team to a 30-6 record while passing for 6,211 yards and 68 touchdowns. In baseball, he was a four-year starter at third base and he also was a pitcher. He hit .438 as a junior and .443 as a senior with a combined 18 home runs. In between those sports, he was a three-year starter on the basketball team. Holliday was highly recruited in both football and baseball by a number of top universities, including his hometown choice of Oklahoma State University, but he was drafted in the seventh round of the 1998 Major League Baseball draft and embarked on a 20-year professional baseball career that ended in October 2018. Holliday played for the Colorado Rockies, Oakland A’s, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees and returned to the Rockies to close his career. In 15 major league seasons, Holliday hit 316 home runs and finished with a .299 career average. His best season was 2007 when he hit .340 with 36 home runs and 137 runs batted in for the Rockies and finished second in the MVP voting. He was a member of the 2011 Cardinals team that won the World Series.
Dave Logan
In a state rich with standout high school athletes, Dave Logan was second to none during his days as a three-sport star at Wheat Ridge (Colorado) High School from 1969 to 1972. And with his eight state championships as a high school football coach the past 26 years, Logan has become the face of high school sports and activities in Colorado. He was two-time all-state in football as a wide receiver and defensive back and received the Gold Helmet Award as a senior as the state’s top senior player, scholar and citizen. He was a three-year starter in basketball and was Colorado Sidelines Player of the Year after averaging 24.1 points per game. In earning three letters in baseball, Logan hit .380 and was 7-2 as a pitcher as a senior and claimed all-state and team MVP honors. And if that wasn’t enough, Logan was a trombone player in the school band. He was one of only three multi-sport players who was drafted by all three major sports organizations. Logan was a two-sport star at the University of Colorado and then played nine years as a wide receiver in the National Football League, including eight years with the Cleveland Browns and his final season with the Denver Broncos. Logan has coached four schools to state football titles, including the 2019 championship with Cherry Creek High School in metro Denver. Finally, Logan is the radio voice of the Denver Broncos and hosts a popular midday radio talk show.
Michele Smith
Michele Smith was an accomplished three-sport athlete at Voorhees High School in Glen Gardner, New Jersey, in the early 1980s. As a pitcher in softball, she was 51-6 and recorded 11 no-hitters. She helped her team to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group 3 state softball title as a junior with a 23-1 record, 0.17 earned-run average and 229 strikeouts. She was selected to the all-state softball team three consecutive years. In field hockey, Smith was named first team all-conference as a junior and senior, and in basketball, she scored 1,114 points in her career and was a two-time all-conference selection. At Oklahoma State University, Smith compiled an 82-20 record as a pitcher, and her career batting average was .343 with 15 home runs. She was a three-time All-Big Eight Conference selection and was a two-time Division I All-American. She was a member of the U.S. Olympic softball teams in 1996 and 2000, and she was the starting pitcher for both gold-medal winning teams. She also played on three gold-medal winning World Championships teams and two teams that won gold medals at the Pan American Games. Smith joined ESPN in 1995 and has been the lead college softball analyst since 1998. In 2012, she was the first woman to serve as commentator for a nationally televised Major League Baseball game.
[divider]
COACHES
Rickey Baker
Rickey Baker has become one of the most successful boys cross country coaches in the nation since his arrival at Hopi High School in Keams Canyon, Arizona in 1987. Three years later, Baker led Hopi to its first state boys cross country championship, and his teams didn’t lose another state title until 2017 – a streak of 27 consecutive team championships. The 27 consecutive state cross country titles is a national record and is third all-time when considering all sports (girls swimming and boys swimming). Baker’s 1999 team scored a perfect 15, which means Hopi runners finished 1-2-3-4-5. Perhaps most amazing about the streak is that Hopi continued to win despite moving into larger classifications. Hopi won 11 straight 2A titles (1990-2000), six consecutive 3A titles (2001-2006) and 10 straight 4A titles (2007-16). Since the streak ended, Hopi has finished runner-up the past three years. Baker started coaching the girls cross country team three years ago and has led his teams to two second-place finishes. He has also coached Hopi’s boys basketball team for 18 years, with a 2A state title in 1997, and the girls and boys track and field teams for the past 10 years. Nine of his track and field athletes have won individual state titles. During his days as a high school athlete, Baker was Arizona’s one-mile champion in 1977 while attending Winslow High School, and he was a member of Winslow’s state cross country team in 1976.
Charles Berry
Charles Berry retired in 2018 after an amazing 57-year career as a boys and girls basketball coach in Arkansas. After four years in the Hector School District and two years in Plemerville, Arkansas, Berry moved to Huntsville in 1967 and remained for 51 years. He resurrected a dormant boys basketball program upon his arrival and coached the boys team for the next 20 years. In 1978, he established the girls basketball team, which he coached until his retirement in 2018. Berry’s overall combined record as a high school boys and girls coach was 1,377-686, with a 1,116-619 record at Huntsville. Along the way, he won two Arkansas Activities Association state girls basketball championships (1997, 2008), and his girls teams finished second two other times (1984, 2013). Berry’s teams made 30 appearances in the state tournament, and they won 16 conference championships and six regional titles. The Huntsville High School gym was renamed Charles H. Berry Gymnasium in 2006, and Berry was inducted into the Arkansas Coaches Hall of Fame in 2016.
Terry Michler
Terry Michler is the winningest boys high school soccer coach in history, and this past season, he eclipsed the 1,000-victory mark in his 48th season at his alma mater, Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis, Missouri. After graduating from Rockhurst College in Kansas City and playing professional soccer for three years, Michler returned to CBC in 1972 to direct the soccer program. After the 2019 season, Michler’s career coaching mark stands at 1,004-284-117. His CBC teams have claimed 31 district championships and have won nine Missouri State High School Activities Association State Soccer Championships in 15 appearances. Michler’s state titles have been distributed throughout his career, with his first in 1983 and his last in 2018. His teams have been ranked nationally in 13 different seasons, and he has had about 300 former players who played at the college level and more than 30 who played professionally. Michler has written – or helped to write – four books on soccer, and he has been inducted in numerous other halls of fame, including the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame and the CBC Sports Hall of Fame.
[divider]
ADMINISTRATOR
Bill Farney
Bill Farney retired as executive director of the Texas University Interscholastic League (UIL) in 2009 after leading the nation’s largest state association staff for 14 years. Farney joined the UIL in 1977 and served as an assistant director and athletic director for 18 years before assuming the executive director’s position in 1995. During his tenure at the UIL, Farney developed the academic and fine arts programs into the most expansive offerings of any state association. He also helped to expand more opportunities for girls by adding team tennis, soccer, softball and wrestling as sanctioned sports. Farney also developed a waiver process to help disadvantaged students with unavoidable circumstances, and he also implemented the Coaches and Officials Positive Expectations (COPE) course for coaches and players to learn proper sportsmanlike conduct. Farney was a teacher, coach, principal and superintendent at schools in Oklahoma and Texas for 15 years before joining the UIL, including the final seven years as superintendent of schools in Crawford, Texas. Farney earned his bachelor’s degree from Tulsa University and his master’s and doctorate from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He was a member of the NFHS Board of Directors, NFHS Basketball Rules Committee, NFHS Swimming and Diving Rules Committee and the NCAA Football Rules Committee.
PERFORMING ARTS
Robert Littlefield
Robert Littlefield has been one of the top speech and debate educators in North Dakota and nationally for more than 45 years. After beginning his career as director of forensics and fine arts in the Barnesville (Minnesota) Public Schools in 1974, Littlefield worked at the high school and college levels in North Dakota until 2016, when he moved to the University of Central Florida. In addition to serving as debate coach at Shanley High School in Fargo, North Dakota, for eight years, Littlefield was the state planner and coordinator for speech clinics for high school teachers and students for more than 20 years. He also coordinated summer speech and debate camps for high school students and was founder and executive director of the Valley Forensic League. During his time at Shanley, Littlefield revitalized the program and had teams regularly place at regional, state and national competition. Littlefield has been involved in national leadership positions with both Pi Kappa Delta National Forensic Honorary and the National Speech and Debate Association. In addition to service on boards and committees with these organizations, Littlefield’s research, development and publication in scholastic journals and instructional workbooks has been extensive. During most of his time in North Dakota, Littlefield was a professor at North Dakota State University and directed the NDSU Speech and Debate Invitational for 25 years.
CHSAA commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green has sent the following information to schools about the Coronavirus and state events:
I am in contact with multiple state and local agencies in regards to any changes that may occur with CHSAA culminating championships. The state and local agencies as well as our facility administrators have me on their “high alert” communications. If there are closures, logistics will be communicated to the membership and posted to CHSAANow immediately.
My suggestion is that these discussions and contingency plans happen at the local level should a school terminate contact and the state event still contested. Our plan is to conduct the championship events unless directed by state agencies and/or facility administration of cancellations.
The safety and well-being of our participants, staffs, volunteers and fans will be in the forefront of all decisions.
While the behavior of parents and other fans at high school games is still a work in progress, there is some good news on the officiating front.
Last fall, we reported on a growing shortage of officials nationwide – even reaching a crisis stage in some areas as games were being cancelled. Through a nationwide recruitment effort, progress is being made in attracting more people to the high school officiating avocation.
Thanks to the NFHS’ #BecomeAnOfficial campaign that was launched in the spring of 2017, more than 4,000 men and women across the country have registered and become certified officials. Many of these individuals are former high school athletes who want to remain involved in sports, earn some extra income and stay in shape, including first responders such as police officers, firefighters and EMTs.
Individuals interested in becoming an official can sign up through the HighSchoolOfficials.com website, and most state associations respond within 24 hours to continue the registration process.
On the flip side, however, is the fear that any gains in new officials coming in the front door are being offset by other officials heading out the back door because of the continued boorish behavior on the part of parents and other fans.
Rickey Neaves, associate director of the Mississippi High School Activities Association, is struggling to cover all basketball games in his state in his role as officials’ coordinator.
“Fans and coaches alike feel freer to downgrade officials, and holler and scream at them, as opposed to the way it was 10 years ago,” Neaves said. “You can see where it is getting worse and worse with parents and coaches blaming officials or staying on an official to the point where they’re just not going to take it, so they just get out.”
Unfortunately, we continue to hear reports like this from across the country. A recent survey conducted by Officially Human: Behind the Stripes that was completed by about 19,000 respondents in 14 states indicated that the problem persists, with fans who do not know the rules being the main culprit.
If efforts by the NFHS at the national level – and others at state and local levels – to attract more people to officiating are to be successful, unsportsmanlike behavior on the part of parents and other fans must cease or we will lose some of these new officials within two years.
While we recognize the task of improving the culture at high school events is challenging and is one more item on the busy plates of school administrators, it is essential if we are to retain officials.
Brenda Hilton, founder of Officially Human: Beyond the Stripes, said “The time is now for all of us to realize that officials are human and their existence and hard work at sporting events allows all of us to enjoy the games that we love. We must start to humanize officials now before the whistles fall silent.”
Recognition and thanks should also be a part of the game plan. We must regularly share our appreciation for the men and women who officiate high school sports.
Dana Pappas, commissioner of officials for the New Mexico Officials Association, shared the following with officials in her state during a special appreciation week:
“Never think that what you do as an official doesn’t matter because it does. Never let one contest where the fans are exceedingly brutal and the scrutiny is overly intense derail your love for what you do. Never think that you are not making a difference because you most definitely are. You are educators, role models and guardians of the integrity of the sport you officiate. You officiate because you care about kids, you care about your chosen sport and you care about your community.”
Instead of viewing these officiating issues as a crisis, let’s see them as an opportunity to impact lives through education-based athletics.
INDIANAPOLIS – Beginning next season, changes to the conditions and procedure for restarting play with a dropped ball will take effect in high school soccer.
The dropped ball procedure was among 15 rules changes made by the NFHS Soccer Rules Committee at its January 20-22 meeting in Indianapolis and subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
When a ball is caused to go out of bounds due to a simultaneous touch, Rules 9-2-2 and 9-2-3 now stipulate a referee will restart play with a dropped ball to one player of the team that last possessed the ball before going out of play. Previously, simultaneous touch resulted in any number of players contesting a dropped ball to restart play.
Additionally, if play is stopped with the ball in the penalty area or the last touch – by either team – was in the penalty area, the ball is dropped to the defending team’s goalkeeper with all opposing players outside the penalty area.
A dropped ball is also used when a ball is deemed out of play due to touching an official, remaining on the field and resulting in one of three scenarios. Rule 9-1-1b states that if a ball touches an official and remains on the field, it will be deemed out of play if it 1) creates a promising attack for a team, 2) goes directly into the goal, or, 3) changes possession.
“The committee felt it was unfair for the ball to touch an official, remain on the field and give an advantage to either team in any of the three situations outlined,” said Stan Latta, chair of the Soccer Rules Committee.
Three rules changes to Rule 16 address when players may enter the penalty area and play a ball after a goal kick. The rules now state a ball is in play when it is kicked and moves, at which point opposing players may enter the penalty area and play the ball. Previously, opposing players remained outside the penalty area until the ball cleared the penalty area and the goal kick was retaken if it failed to exit the penalty area.
“The changes in Rule 16 will allow for a faster restart and alleviate the tendency to waste time,” said Theresia Wynns, NFHS Director of Sports and Officials and liaison to the Soccer Rules Committee.
Rule 14-1-3 clarifies goalkeepers’ positions during a penalty kick. Defending goalkeepers shall stand with at least one foot on or in-line with the goal line and the goalkeeper shall not be touching the goal posts, crossbar or nets. Forward movement is allowed provided both feet don’t come off the line until the ball is in play.
A complete listing of the soccer rules changes will be available on the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org. Click on “Activities & Sports” at the top of the home page and select “Soccer.”
According to the 2018-19 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, soccer is the fifth most popular high school sport for boys with 459,077 participants in 12,552 schools nationwide. Soccer is the fourth most popular sport for girls with 394,105 participants in 12,107 schools.
