AURORA — Normally, CHSAA commissioner Paul Angelico provides the Legislative Council a detailed, yet brief update on the status of the Association.
But as he said at the beginning of Thursday’s address, his last as commissioner: This time is different.
He gave his thanks. He praised those in the CHSAA office that make the operations run as smoothly as they do.
He said goodbye.
And it wouldn’t be a true goodbye if he didn’t recap his time in the position. Coming into the role of commissioner, Angelico cared about the development of high school athletics and about what the kids were learning through participating in sports.
Under Angelico, laws regarding concussion policies and the use of athletic trainers were passed. This wasn’t just a CHSAA mandate. This was state law.
He cited a better partnership with the Colorado High School Coaches Association that has become essential in the interaction of coaches with the association.
Participating in such programs as You Can Play have become essential in giving kids the freedom to joins teams and programs without the threat of being teased or bullied.
But with all these accomplishments, Angelico was quick to remind the council of a very important aspect. The work is not done.
In his retirement, the Legislative Council and the Board of Directors will continue to advocate for high school athletics.
He may have sat in the driver’s seat for the last seven years, but the ship doesn’t run without the conglomerate of athletic directors and administrators that tackle the issues head-on.
“I think the things you have allowed us to do, what I wanted done seven years ago, which was to maintain the value of what high school sports have traditionally been about,” he told the council. “I didn’t do that, you did.”
Angelico had dreams and goals of what he could do as commissioner. But they were never things that he could do alone.
The Board and the Council had faith in him and gave him the flexibility to do what he needed to in order to steer the Association in the way that he felt was best not just for the athletic directors and the schools, but for the kids.
Before saying his final goodbye, he encouraged everyone to continue doing the work that they’re doing because that’s the only way that Colorado high school athletics will grow and evolve.
He signed off acknowledging that there are two important days in someone’s life. There’s the day they’re born and the day they figure out why.
When an emotional Angelico said his final goodbye to the Legislative Council, he knew exactly why he was born and he felt that he had done his best to carry out that mission.
He expressed gratitude to the crowd with emotion and humility.
And they returned that gratitude with a standing ovation.
AURORA — The CHSAA Legislative Council approved the addition of a mercy rule for basketball at Thursday’s bi-annual meeting.
After discussion over the implementation, the basketball committee report passed with 59 Council members voting for it with 11 voting against.
The new sportsmanship rule says that if a team builds a 35-point after the third quarter, the clock will begin running, only to stop for timeouts, injuries and free throws.
The rule will apply to all levels.
“Unfortunately the membership has had to implement a sportsmanship rule for its games,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Bert Borgmann, who oversees basketball. “There were a variety of reasons that led to this and the basketball committee felt the rule proposed can address these issues but strongly encourages schools to take additional steps to ensure that their basketball coaches and teams maintain a high level of respect for their opponents.”
Like the 40-point mercy rule in football, once the 35-point margin is reached, the sportsmanship rule will take effect until the game is over. Even if the losing team pulls within the margin, the clock will continue to run.
The rationale behind the rule was to eliminate the humiliation factor in some regular season contests. It will also apply to postseason games.
When the basketball committee met to discuss the rule in early-February — with 16 days remaining in the regular season — 17.2 percent of girls games (841 of 4,892 total) and 12.8 percent of boys boys games (633 of 4,952) had ended with margins of 35 points or more.
Implementation of the rule will begin with the 2017-18 season.
A proposal which penalizes violations of game contracts passed. There will now be a fine of $500 and probation for a first offense; $1,000 and restriction for second. Violations after that result in a mandatory meeting with the CHSAA office, and a penalty to be determined. All fines go to offended school.
Blanford-Green was hired to be the ninth commissioner of the Association in March. She called her career — which took her to Nebraska and Louisiana after 16 years at CHSAA — a “circular journey” as she readies to return to Colorado.
She then spoke about her predecessor, Paul Angelico, who mentored Blanford-Green when she previously was associate and assistant commissioner at CHSAA.
“I want to thank Paul, because through your leadership, Colorado serves as model nationally for some of the things that you do,” Blanford-Green said. “It really resonates across the country that we get in front of issues. We aren’t reactive. We don’t allow people on the outside dictate what we need to be doing for our student-athletes and our programs.
“So I want to thank Paul,” she continued. “It will be hard to fill your shoes, but I just wanted the membership to know that our visions align. I know that, under my leadership, we will continue to do what’s best for kids in the state of Colorado.”
The two spoke on Wednesday night, “and he left with with three pieces of advice,” Blanford-Green said.
“The first is to keep kids first,” she said. “(The second:) ‘If you try to be perfect in everything, you will fail at this job.’ And, ‘Don’t cuss as much as I do.’
“So, I’ll address No. 1 first: My history and my advocacy for kids across the nation, especially in Colorado, speaks for itself. That doesn’t change now,” Blanford-Green said. “When it’s part of your core values, it’s who you are. I know that will be something that won’t be hard to accomplish.
“Second,” she continued, “perfection, I know, isn’t attainable. I will make mistakes, but they won’t be because I and our staff are not prepared, and we will always be led by the mission and the vision of the CHSAA to make the decisions on behalf of the membership and the kids.
“No. 3?” she said. “No promises.”
Blanford-Green also thanked the Board of Directors for the opportunity to become CHSAA’s commissioner.
“I want you to know that I don’t take your trust in me, or your faith in me, lightly,” Blanford-Green said.
She closed by saying that she felt “blessed, I’m humbled, and I’m honored to serve and work for the CHSAA staff, the Board of Directors, the membership, the student-athletes, our educational partners, CASE, CASB, school boards, and the state of Colorado.
Blanford-Green will attend the NFHS summer meeting in Rhode Island at the end of June as CHSAA’s commissioner, then begin her role in Colorado at the start of July.
