Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes of the IESA Board of Directors

January 23, 2004

The regular winter meeting of the Board of Directors was held January 23, 2004, at the IESA Office, Bloomington, Illinois.

The meeting was called to order on January 23 by President Spiezio at 1:00 p.m. The following members were present: Lee, Hochstatter, Spiezio, Irwin, Isackson, Silvey, Lewis, Birkey, Fitzanko, Cox, Ervin, Carr, and Graham. Also present were Steve Endsley, Nicole Schaefbauer, and Julie Cochran from the IESA staff.

Motion by Hochstatter/Birkey to approve the September, 2003 regular meeting minutes. Carried.

Mr. Graham presented the Treasurer's report. Discussion was held concerning a C.D. that will mature on January 24. It was decided to cash the C.D. and put the money into the savings account which will draw a higher interest rate than a one-year C.D. Motion by Isackson/Irwin to approve the Treasurer's report and file for the auditor. Carried.

Division Reports

Division D--Mr. Endsley informed the Board that a principal from Division D had called inquiring about canceling a regional when no school offers to host. The principal felt that a school that has previously hosted should be reassigned to a different regional if in fact no school offers to host and the regional is actually canceled. A brief discussion followed but no action was taken.

Division F--Ms. Isackson reported there had been some health issues with the area's wrestling programs.

Division N--Mr. Graham informed the Board that he had a student in his school who repeated 7th grade and was ineligible to participate on the school basketball team because he played in one game as a 7th grader the previous year. The dad of the student had contacted Mr. Graham and asked for the policy be discussed. After discussion, no action was taken. Also, Mr. Graham mentioned that with the addition of many parochial schools not only in his area but the entire Association, he would like to re-visit the issue of a three class system. The IESA administrative staff will discuss options.

Assistant Executive Director's report

Mrs. Cochran presented the Assistant Executive Director's Report. At the September, 2003 Board meeting, the administrative staff was instructed to review the overlap between the girls softball and girls basketball seasons. Discussion was held with the girls softball advisory committee and the boys baseball advisory committee. After discussions with the respective advisory committees and by the administrative staff the following recommendation was given to the Board of Directors: Beginning in 2005, to move the entire girls softball season back one week so that tryouts/practice may start Monday of week 4, games may begin on Saturday of week 5, regionals would begin on Thursday of week 10, and the IESA state finals would be held Friday-Saturday of week 12. Motion by Hochstatter/Silvey to accept the recommendation to move the girls softball season back one week starting in 2005. Motion Carried.

During discussion of the motion, the ramifications of the new starting date were discussed. One of the items brought before the Board was the new starting date for softball and the conflict with By-Law 3.043. The new starting date of softball would in all likelihood conflict with softball players trying to finish their summer seasons. The current interpretation of By-Law 3.043 does not allow students to participate on the school team and finish their summer season. It only allows students to try-out for the school team while still participating with the non-school team. Because of that, motion by Hochstatter/ to change By-Law 3.043 to allow students in all sports to practice or participate with a non-school team and be a member of a school team until the school's first scheduled contest in the activity. Motion died for lack of a second. After further discussion, motion by Lee/Cox, effective July 1, 2005, to change By-Law 3.043 so that only softball players are allowed to participate with a non-school team and practice and play with the school team until the school's first scheduled softball contest. Motion Carried.

Associate Executive Director's report

Mrs. Schaefbauer presented the Associate Executive Director's Report. She informed the Board of an 8th grade basketball regional that needed to be rearranged because of a late addition. Also, she informed the Board that a school called wanting to know if parents could hold their own practice for a school team since the parents felt the coach was not doing enough for the students. The school was told that would be a violation of By-Law 3.043 since that would be interpreted to be a non-school team.

Mr. Dave Cook, Owner of Hoosier Bat Company, Valparaiso, Indiana addressed the Board. Mr. Cook discussed the performance of wood bats vs. aluminum bats, the cost his company would charge for bats if IESA schools purchased bats from his company, and other factors that should be considered when deciding to mandate the use of wood bats. After his presentation, no action was taken. Schools entered in the IESA baseball series will follow the same bat rules in 2004 as were in place for 2003.

Executive Director's report

Mr. Endsley gave the Executive Director's report. He informed the Board that divisions A, C, K, E, and L will be having elections to the Board this spring. The section 125 flexible spending plan approved by the Board at the September, 2003 meeting resulted in approximately a $5000.00 savings for the Association in the last quarter of 2003. Mr. Endsley informed the Board that he has been appointed to the National Federation Citizenship Committee and that the national meeting will be held February 7-9 in Indianapolis. Permission was given to contact the contractor of the IESA Office regarding costs that would be associated with putting an addition on the current office.

Old Business

Attendance at the 2004 NFHS summer meeting was discussed. Board members who are scheduled to attend were polled asking if they plan to attend.

The Scholar Attitude Luncheon recognizing the 14 individuals selected will be held on Thursday, April 29 at the Chateau in Bloomington. A grant for $1200.00 was received from State Farm Insurance to help fund the program.

Information regarding the Grade School Field Trip Day was shared with the Board. The speaker for the day will be Mike Schlappi from Utah, the only wheelchair basketball player in the USA to be a member of the past four Paralympic teams.

With the changes that were made to the girls softball season beginning in 2005, motion by Silvey/Hochstatter to approve the three-year standardized calendar as presented.

New Business

The IESA's ball adoption agreement with Wilson will expire at the end of the 2003-04 school year. A proposal has been received from Wilson to extend the contract for an additional five years. There is some wording in the proposal that the Board would like to have changed if it is agreeable to Wilson. Motion by Graham/Lee for the Executive Director to contact Wilson and ask for the wording to be changed in regard to the proposed volleyball and approve the agreement after discussion. Motion Carried.

Board Committee Reports

None

Advisory Committee Reports

Baseball--Mr. Hochstatter presented the recommendations of the Baseball Advisory Committee that met on October 30, 2003. Motion by Hochstatter/Graham to change By-Law 4.0132 so that the recommended distance from home plate to the backstop is a minimum distance of 20 ft. for state series games. Motion Carried.

A recommendation by the baseball advisory committee to delete By-Law 4.0135 was presented. Motion by Hochstatter/Lee to delete By-Laws 4.0135 and 4.0233. Motion Carried. Exec. Director's Note: With these two By-Laws now deleted which were exceptions to the National Federation rules, any baseball or softball game that is called due to weather or darkness after five full innings (or 4 � innings if the home team is ahead) is official and will be considered a complete game.

Motion by Hochstatter/Lee, beginning with the 2004 season, to require the first two games of the regional in an 8 team regional, (seed #1 vs. seed #8 and seed #2 vs. seed #7) or the first game of a 7 team regional (seed #2 vs. seed #7) to be played on Tuesday of week 11 in the standardized calendar. Games 3 & 4 (seed #4 vs. seed #5 and seed #3 vs. seed #6) of an 8 team regional (or games 2 and 3 of a 7 team regional) would then be played on Thursday and for schools that offer to host a regional and are assigned to host, will be responsible to hire officials for all games, including the Tuesday and Thursday games that will be played at different sites. Motion Carried. Exec. Director's Note: With all first round games now being played on Thursday, many schools are unable to locate umpires for these games. By having an extra day to start the regional, this will give schools a much better selection of umpires.

Motion by Hochstatter/Silvey to table a recommendation that would change the interpretation of the Safety-Base so it is the same interpretation as listed in the NFHS rule book. Motion Carried.

Basketball--The Board received copies of the girls basketball financial reports.

Cross-Country--Ms. Isackson presented the recommendations of the Cross-Country Advisory Committee that met on November 6, 2003. Motion by Isackson/Graham to provide an NFHS Track & Field Rule book to all schools that enter the cross-country state series. Motion Carried. Motion by Fitzanko/Silvey to change By-Law 4.0325 so the number of sectionals in each class is increased to seven. Motion Carried. Motion by Fitzanko/Silvey to change By-Law 4.0325 so the top five individuals in each sectional advance to the state meet. Motion Carried. Motion by Hochstatter/Silvey to change By-Laws 4.0342 and 4.0343 so the top two teams in each sectional receive a plaque and team ribbons. Motion Carried. Motion by Silvey/ for the top 10 runners in each sectional receive a medal instead of a ribbon. Motion died for lack of a second. Motion by Fitzanko/Isackson for the IESA Office to develop a cross-country sectional host manual. Motion Carried.

Softball--Mr. Birkey presented the recommendations of the Softball Advisory Committee that met on October 29, 2003. Motion by Birkey/Graham to table a recommendation that would change the interpretation of the Safety-Base so it is the same interpretation as listed in the NFHS rule book. Motion Carried.

Speech--Mrs. Schaefbauer presented the recommendations of the Speech Advisory Committee that met on January 12, 2004. Motion by Hochstatter/Isackson to add the following Questions and Answers to the Speech Terms and Conditions and to the illustrations in the IESA Handbook:

• Q. What do I do if I would like to protest or challenge a rating the day of contest?
• A. The coach should meet with the contest host and Judge Representative to resolve the complaint THE DAY OF CONTEST.

• Q. Would the clothes or jewelry of a participant ever be considered a prop/costume?
• A. Yes. If the clothes or jewelry are referred to in the presentation or representative of the piece, they would be considered props/costume and would be penalized accordingly.

• Q. What are the boundaries of the performance area?
• A. Any area in the performance room may be used.

• Q. Are parts of the body considered to be a prop?
• A. No.

Motion Carried.

Sportsmanship--Mrs. Cochran presented the report and recommendations of the Sportsmanship Advisory committee that met on November 3. Motion by Cox/Carr to allow the committee to schedule up to four meetings each year with one of the meetings being held in the summer. Motion Carried.

Cheerleading--The Board received a copy of the cheerleading championship financial report.

Motion by Birkey/Cox to approve the expenses of the meeting. Motion Carried.

There being no further business, motion by Graham/Lee to adjourn the meeting Motion Carried. President Spiezio adjourned the meeting at 4:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Steve Endsley
IESA Executive Director