Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

IESA Board of Directors Winter Meeting Synopsis

Jerry R. Birkey Re-Elected as IESA Board President; Bryan Zwemke Seated as a Member of the Board; Sectional Level for Boys Golf Added

The IESA Board of Directors elected officers, seated a new member to the Board, approved a recommendation to add a sectional level of competition in boys golf, acted on committee recommendations in several activities, and tied up other loose ends at its regularly scheduled meeting on January 24, 2014.

Mr. Jerry R. Birkey was re-elected to serve as President of the IESA Board of Directors. He has served on the IESA Board since 1997. He has been the principal at Mt. Zion Jr. High School since 1994. Prior to that, Birkey served as the principal at Morrisonville from 1989-1994 and has also worked in the Momence and East Peoria #86 school districts. Birkey has previously served as both the vice-president and treasurer of the IESA Board. Mr. Tony Ingold, Superintendent of East Peoria District #86 was re-elected to the vice-president position while Dr. Scott Herrmann, Superintendent at the Bannockburn school district was re-elected to serve as the Secretary-Treasurer. Bryan Zwemke, Principal at Sugar Grove Kaneland Harter was seated as a new member of the IESA Board of Directors while incumbents Kenny Lee, Jerry Birkey, Chris Graham, and Steve Stuart were seated as well.

Boys Golf Sectional

A sectional level for boys golf will begin in the fall of 2014. The sectional date for the boys will be Saturday, September 6. "We are very pleased with the growth of the IESA golf activity and in particular with the boys division," said Steve Endsley, IESA Executive Director. "As a result of the growth in the boys division, the only way we can accommodate all of the boy golfers who want to participate is to add a sectional qualifying level. The boys will now have a qualifying round prior to the state and all boys who enter will be assigned to a sectional. We anticipate having three sectionals on September 6 with the top 24 golfers at each sectional advancing to the IESA finals that are held at Kellogg Golf Course in Peoria on Saturday, September 13. The girls division will simply continue as in the previous three years with play at just the state level. Our hope is we see as much growth in the girls division as we have seen in the boys division so we can add a sectional qualifying level for the girls as well."

Last year, there was a waiting list to enter the boys golf division. Nearly 150 boy golfers registered for the competition but only 96 could be accommodated. Girls golf will remain as a state level only activity with the field being limited to the first 96 girls who sign up for the event. There were 62 girl golfers who participated in 2013.

Activity Committee Action

Baseball -- The Board received the report of the Baseball Advisory Committee. There were no recommendations.

Cross-Country -- Approved a recommendation from the advisory committee to award trophies and individual medals to the top four teams in each class at the state meet. The Board also approved a recommendation to award a first place medal to each first place winner of each sectional. Placers 2-10 will continue to receive ribbons.

Softball -- Approved a recommendation to move the sectional starting time to 11:00 a.m. Previously, the sectional games started at 1:00 p.m. The Board did not approve a recommendation that a game that does not go a full seven innings yet is considered final by NFHS rule and then incurs a weather related situation which does not allow the game to be completed must be resumed on the Monday after the tournament.

Speech -- The Board approved recommendations to make minor changes to the Team Improv event; wording that will be added to the judging criteria as to what should constitute a Division 1 rating; and general changes to rules regarding use of props, audience interaction and adjudication criteria, and a clearer definition of when the time begins for a performance. All of the changes will be detailed at the annual Speech workshop and listed in the Terms and Conditions distributed to the participating schools. Coach award recipients were announced. Lynn Stehlik from Bradley Central will be given the Distinguished Service Award and Lisa Simpsen from Normal Epiphany will be given the Class Act Award.

Golf -- In addition to the sectional level for boys golf that was approved, the Board approved several other golf committee recommendations. They include: The first place winner at each boys sectional will receive a medal---golfers placing 2-10 will receive a ribbon; The entry deadline for both boys and girls will now be Monday of week 49 in the standardized calendar. For 2014, that date is June 9; The boys will now play with a circle 10 rule and the girls will play with a circle 12 rule; A games committee shall be formed to be made up of the coach from the sectional host and the pro from the host course; The games committee will decide if conditions warrant for preferred lies to be played; Distance measuring range finders will be allowed. Schools participating in the boys golf division will pay the greens fees for the sectional level directly to the golf course.

Other Business Items

Scholar Attitude: The 16th annual Scholar Attitude Award luncheon will be Tuesday, May 6, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. the DoubleTree Hotel in Bloomington. Only one student from each of the 15 membership divisions will be selected. The deadline for receipt of nominations in the IESA Office is Feb. 21, 2014. Judges will meet in the IESA Office April 2, 2014, to select the winners.

Division Meetings: The Board heard a report regarding "attendance" at the required Division Meetings that were conducted online in the fall. Thirty-five (35) schools were placed on probation for failure to attend one of the online meetings. All schools that failed to attend a meeting in 2012 attended a meeting this past fall so there are no schools that will be suspended for failing to attend in two consecutive years.

Treasurer's Report: The Board received and accepted the treasurer's report for the fiscal period ending December 31, 2013.

Board Meetings: There are two regular meetings remaining in the 2013-14 school year. One is scheduled April 4, 2014, and the other is scheduled June 20, 2014.

Cheerleading Entry Fee: Approved a staff recommendation that the entry fee for the cheer activity be raised to $75 beginning in 2014-2015.

Use of an Ineligible Participant in an Athletic Contest: The Board approved a staff recommendation that any awards won by an individual or school when an ineligible contestant appears in an athletic contest must be forfeited. Language already existed that awards won by a contestant in a non-athletic contest must be forfeited but similar language did not exist for athletic contests.

Bourbonnais St. George: The principal, athletic director, and the boys basketball coach appeared before the Board at the Board's request to address sportsmanship issues that took place in a boys basketball contest in November. The school outlined steps they are taking to address the sportsmanship issues that have arisen with their coaches. The Board placed the boys basketball program from Bourbonnais St. George on probation for the remainder of the 2013-14, all of the 2014-15 school year, and spelled out penalties if a member of the coaching staff is ejected during the probation period.

Champaign Jefferson: The principal, 7th grade girls basketball head coach, an assistant coach, and a parent appeared before the Board. The Board requested the school to appear before the Board because of a sportsmanship issue that occurred in a 7th grade girls basketball regional. After discussing the incident with the school and others in attendance, there were no additional penalties assessed to the school.

At each meeting of the Board of Directors time is devoted for each board member to report on communication with and requests from the member schools in the member's division. In addition, Board members also may make observations regarding the operation of the Association. Following is a report of those from the January 24 meeting:

Division A: Dr. Herrmann was contacted by a school in his division requesting that the By-Law giving each school the ability to make the decision regarding whether or not students can participate in school and club activities in the same sport at the same time be changed to the previous rule which was an IESA By-Law preventing students from participating in school and non-school at the same time. No action was taken. He also reported that a school contacted him regarding the season schedule for volleyball. No action was taken. (See Below)

Division E: Ms. Derby received a question concerning the number of contests that must be played before the seeding deadline. No action was taken. (See Below)

Division J: Ms. Isackson was contacted by a school concerning the transfer policy of the IESA. No changes or recommendation to change the existing policy were made.

Division K: Mr. Graham was contacted by a school requesting that the sportsmanship ratings that appear for a given school during the state series be broken down by 7th grade sportsmanship ratings and 8th grade sportsmanship ratings. IESA Staff will work with Craig Johnson, technology coordinator, to accommodate the request.

Division M: Mr. Lamkey was contacted by a school in his division also requesting that the By-Law giving each school the ability to make the decision regarding whether or not students can participate in school and club activities in the same sport at the same time be changed to the previous rule. No action was taken.

Comments from IESA Executive Director Steve Endsley: Both Dr. Herrmann and Ms. Derby were contacted concerning the calendar, playing schedule, and the number of contests that must be played prior to entering the state series. All of these topics were discussed in great detail during the new business portion of the January 24 meeting and both are closely related. In Illinois, at the jr. high/middle school level, not every school plays their sports at the same time. For instance, IESA conducts their girls basketball state series in the fall and the girls volleyball program in the winter yet there are many schools that play their girls basketball season in the winter and their girls volleyball season in the fall. The question becomes does IESA want to allow, somehow someway, those schools who do not play their seasons in accordance with the IESA season, the ability to still participate in the IESA state series for that sport? The IHSA does not have this problem as practically every high school runs their seasons for their sports in accordance with the IHSA calendar. There are very good reasons to allow schools to play in the state series who do not play their regular season according to the IESA calendar and there are very good reasons not to allow a school to participate who doesn't play according to our season. The Board will continue to discuss this and will decide if any changes need to be made. Once the Board discusses and makes some final decisions regarding season play and whether schools that don't follow the IESA calendar can still play in the state series, decisions can then be made as to the number of contests that must be played in order to enter the state series. If a member school has thoughts on this subject, please feel free to contact your Board representative or contact the IESA Office.