VAIL – The Colorado High School Activities Association convened for its August meetings, the first of the 2023-24 academic year, on Friday and Saturday in Vail. The session marked the first under new Board of Directors President Ryan West and focused on setting a strategic vision and forecasting challenges for the year ahead.
The biggest conversation came around the implementation of the shot clock for basketball. The results of a survey conducted in Spring 2023 were shared, which was taken by 328 athletic directors and district athletic directors throughout Colorado. Overall, 59.5 percent of the responses were in favor of implementing the shot clock with more than 70 percent of metro schools in support of implementation and 55 percent of rural schools being opposed to implementation.
Overall, the responses to the survey and the conversations shared among Board members reflected a range of opinions. Concerns were mostly about cost, availability of workers, and the potential disadvantage for weaker teams being prevalent. The proponents believe the shot clock would improve the game, increase competitiveness, and align Colorado with national standards (more than half of the United States will have adopted the shot clock by the end of the 2023-24 academic year).
The Board will continue conversation and focus efforts on educating the membership while eliciting additional feedback as they work towards a recommendation for the Legislative Council in January. Member schools are encouraged to reach out to Board members to share insights, ask questions and gain clarity around the issue.
Following its October meeting, the Board intends to come forward with a recommendation for the Legislative Council on the possible implementation of the shot clock. Pending the outcome and feedback from the Legislative Council session in January, the Board will conduct a special meeting to make its final decision on the shot clock implementation recommendation that has been made by the CHSAA Basketball Committee.
Prior to the start of Friday’s Board meeting, President West hosted a New Member Orientation for the three new Board members: Mike Jobman, Jim Porter and Ryan Silva. West then opened the Board meeting with a welcome and a discussion of meeting overview and purpose. Following the approval of minutes from the June 7 meeting, Alex Halpern provided a quick Legal Update, followed by a Legislative Update by Joan Green-Turner.
Commissioner Mike Krueger took time to share a number of forward-looking strategic priorities the CHSAA staff has been working on for the past few months. These priorities included items such as: Sporting Behavior and Game Management, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Coaching Education and Training, and Connection and Communication efforts. The Board then broke out into small groups to brainstorm strategic vision and challenges for the year ahead.
Director of Finance Sarah Vernon-Brunner also provided the Board with a comprehensive update on CHSAA’s financials on Friday. Vernon-Brunner was very excited to communicate that due to the Employee Retention Credits, grant funds acquired, as well as an intensive review of budgetary process and procedure over the past year, CHSAA was able to end its year with a net income of over $800,000; an amount which was far above anticipated and projected numbers. These financials will be finalized and added to the Financial Updates website after CHSAA’s annual audit is reported in October.
Vernon-Brunner shared that $850,000 will be added to CHSAA’s reserves, which made a big impact on CHSAA rebuilding its reserve fund following a large decrease due to the pandemic. This amount far exceeded what was originally projected in terms of securing the reserve funding of the organization.
Towards the end of the session on Saturday, the Board received a detailed presentation from Assistant Commissioner Ryan Casey regarding the unfortunate issues created with tie situations within the seeding index currently. The Board discussed enhancing the efficiency of the seeding index already in place, which would address these issues. A vote on whether to modify how the seeding index is combined will take place within the week. This will allow time for Board members to ensure communicative efforts are in place and make sure a decision is made prior to the Fall season starting.
Lastly, the Board voted unanimously to accept a select few postseason ticket price adjustments for 2023-24.
The Board will reconvene for its next meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 4.