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The membership of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association passed four amendments impacting the membership’s Bylaws and Rules of Eligibility and received election results for the available Board of Control and Advisory Council positions at the 118th Annual Meeting held at the Holiday Inn and Convention Center in Stevens Point today.

Of the five amendments related to the Constitution, Bylaws and Rules of Eligibility up for membership vote, four of them passed into membership rule effective May 24, 2013. Three of the amendments impact the Rules of Eligibility section of the Handbook and one alters the Bylaws.    

The one amendment not passed addressed summertime coaching contact with student-athletes in basketball and volleyball. By a 242-94 count, the membership rejected a measure that would have provided unlimited nonschool contact during the summer until the first day of school. With unlimited nonschool contact, a coach may work with student-athletes during the summer as long as the activity is not school sponsored and does not use any school resources (e.g. money, transportation for activities, etc.). Coaches retain the 5 summer contact days that were previously allowed.

The first amendment to the Rules of Eligibility was ratified by a 312-17 vote. It aligns one aspect of the membership’s residency rules by affording students in nonpublic school systems the same progression from feeder middle school/junior high schools into the senior high schools. Students that establish eligibility, whether in a public or nonpublic feeder school, prior to reaching the ninth grade, will be eligible at that school system’s senior high school upon matriculation into ninth grade.

The second amendment to the Rules of Eligibility passed 316-17.  It addresses situations when the eligibility of a high school student-athlete is in jeopardy due to violations of the membership’s amateur status provisions. The approval of the amendment adds language allowing the reduction of the penalty if the violation is rectified by discontinuation or restitution. The measure will assist in expediting the process to restore the eligibility of a student-athlete. The application of the rule has not changed. Therefore, the violation sustains the urgency for the offending entity exploiting the student-athlete to take responsive efforts to restore eligibility.

The third of the amendments impacting the membership’s Rules of Eligibility adds cross country to the list of fall sports that allow student-athletes to delay reporting to the school team for nonschool training or competition until the first school competition. The vote to approve was 319-15.

The rule change impacting the Bylaws permits schools to issue protective baseball and softball equipment during the entire year for out-of-season training or nonschool competition. Approval of a school’s governing body is required prior to issuing protective equipment during the school year. The measure passed by a 325-8 tally.

Among the topics presented for review included ongoing efforts to classify sports officials as independent contractors, reduced-player football, the concussion law, fundamental coaching responsibilities, winter tournament venues and updates to the WIAA website. 

Items introduced in the new business presentation included the hazards of available supplements claiming to improve performance, sudden cardiac arrest education awareness, anticipation for development of a transgender policy, addressing the responsibility of providing opportunities for students with disabilities, reaffirming the rationale for the three-game disqualification penalty in hockey and the development of the NFHS web streaming initiative

In the 2013-14 Board of Control elections, president-elect Dean Sanders, the district administrator at Lake Mills, will serve his second consecutive term representing District 6, and Ted Knutson, principal and athletic director at Aquinas, will return to the Board as the non-public school at-large representative. Brad Ayer, superintendent at Clear Lake, was elected from District 1 to replace former Board president Mark Gobler of Luck, who was not eligible for re-election after serving two consecutive terms. Steve Knecht, coordinator of athletics, physical education, health and recreation with Kenosha Public Schools, was elected as the District 7 representative replacing Jack Klebesadel of Germantown.
    
Incumbents re-elected to the Advisory Council were Mike Gosz, athletic director and dean of students at Hamilton, representing large schools; Scott Winch, superintendent at Stratford, representing medium-sized schools; and Reed Welsh, district administrator at Abbotsford, representing small schools. Joining the Council for their first terms are Bernie Nikolay, superintendent at Cambridge, representing medium-sized schools and Jennifer Vogler, district administrator at Greenwood, representing small schools.
    
A total of 403 delegates from 344 schools were in attendance. The WIAA oversees interscholastic athletic programs for 507 senior high schools and 65 junior high/middle level schools in its membership. It sponsors 25 championship tournament series.