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description of the meeting, who was there, action items and
the next meeting date.
Note: all minutes are marked “Draft” until official
approved by the next committee meeting.
ACTIVITY STANDARDS COMMITTEE
August 9/10, 2005
The Inn at Willow Pond Manchester, VT
Members
Present: Kathi Bierwirth, D.G. Weaver, Chris Hodsden,
Bill Lawson, Shaun Pickett, Pam Arnold, Cynthia Hinrichsen,
Bob Johnson, Ray Pellegrini
Guests
Present: David Cobb, Scott Legacy, Mike Baker, Jay
VanStechelman, Bob Day, David Bousana, Scott Bourdon, Susan
Bourdon, Kevin Bourdon, Peter Maneen
Minutes:
- D.G.
Weaver is now Vice-Chair for ASC.
- Bill
L. moved to accept minutes of 5/17/05 and 5/3/05. Second by
Shaun P., Vote - approved unanimously.
- correspondence
– reviewed letters removing schools from probationary
status. No action taken.
- Ray
P. gave update on Harwood Track situation. Harwood had indicated
that they would not meet with ASC to provide additional information
as
request by the VPA Appeals Committee. As a result, the VPA
views that
Harwood has withdrawn their request and is to be reinstated
as the 2004
Division II Boys Champion. Harwood would like to appear before
ASC in
the Fall to discuss some concerns they have with VPA By-Laws
and
Policies.
- Motion
by Chris H., second by Shaun P. to recommend Activity Committee
appointments to Executive Council for 2005-2006 school year.
Vote -approved unanimously.
- Bob
J. presented Cheerleading Committee recommendation to allow
all
Cheerleading teams. regardless of division, to have a squad
of up to 20.
Current rules allow for up to 12 in Division III, up to 16
in Division II and
up to 20 in Division I. Discussion. Motion by Cynthia H.,
second by Shaun P. to accept recommendation effective 2005-2006
school year. Vote–approved unanimously.
- Dave
C. presented recommendations from Officials Committee. First
was
to recommend that officials fees and mileage be frozen for
the 2006-2007
school year ($50 per game fee and .405 mileage). Also, establish
an ad-hoc committee to examine the financial impact the new
mileage rate is having on schools. Motion to accept recommendation
by Bill L., second by
Shaun P.. Discussion – mileage fees rise dramatically this
year (from .32 to .405) and some schools have presented concerns
about budgetary impact. The ad-hoc committee would look at
this issue over the next year and prepare recommendations
for next summer’s meeting. Vote - approved unanimously.
Second
recommendation was to form an ad-hoc committee to examine
the VPA’s role with the various officials organizations in
Vermont. Committee would report findings and recommendations
to ASC next summer. Currently, the VPA has to formal involvement
with these organizations. Discussion – check with legal council
to get his take on this issue before forming the committee.
Motion by Chris H., second by Kathi B. to accept recommendation
from Officials Committee with the stipulation that legal counsel
is consulted first. Vote - approved unanimously.
- Bob
J. gave an update on the Dance Committee. First state exhibition
is scheduled for March 2006. Middlebury HS has offered to
host. No further action taken.
- Scott
L and Mike B. presented the Wrestling Committees recommendation
that mouth guards be made optional instead of mandatory. Vermont
is the only New England state to mandate mouth guards. Mouth
guards were originally put in to deal with concussions. Wrestling
has had no concussions reported in the last 5-7 years. Wrestlers
are already strapped in with head gear. Breathing has become
a major issue with mouth guards. Some wrestlers do use mouth
guards, so making them optional would also cover those who
wanted them.
Motion
by Chris H., second by Kathi B. to make mouth guards optional
in wrestling starting in the 2005-2006 school year. Vote -
approved unanimously.
- Jay
VanStechelman presented an appeal of the Policy on Participation
in Individual Competitions on behalf of the Putney School.
Background – a Putney School student compete in the Division
I track championship.
According to the VPA, she was classified as an Independent
Affiliated(Putney School had no formal team) and as such,
the student could not score team points (based on VPA policy).
Putney School felt that any contestant should be scored as
a team. Jay V. gave background on the team aspect of track
and field and the fact that this had been done previously
in D III track championships. Also felt that the VPA was
violating the NFHS rules in terms on contestants and scoring.
Appeal requested that a) all students be allowed to score
as a team (whether their school had designated them as a varsity
sport or not) or b) have
track designated as one of the team sports under the Member
to Member Program so that these types of agreements could
be entered into. Discussion – Bob J. noted that this issue
of scoring independent
athletes had occurred in the past (primarily in D III) and
was the result of a misinterpretation of the VPA rules. However,
no one had questioned the results before so the issue never
arose. According to VPA legal counsel, the fact that this
had been done before does not change the policy. This issue
would have been resolved if the Putney School classified track
as a varsity/competitive sport. Jay V. – sees the scoring
system as possibly discriminatory. The Putney School
does not agree with the policy and would like to see it changed
or modified. ASC deliberation tabled until Wednesday.
Wednesday
discussion – no need to change the policy. Individuals are
allowed to score team points as long as the school has recognized
the sport as a varsity program. Track cannot be considered
under the Member to Member program due to the definition in
the
By-Law of what is a team sport. ASC could not change this
even if they wanted to. If Putney wanted to pursue this avenue,
they would need to send request to Track Committee. It would
then go to ASC and Executive Committee and then to the membership
for approval.
Motion
by Bill L., second by Chris H to deny the request of the Putney
School to modify or change the VPA Policy on Participation
in Individual Competitions. Vote – approved unanimously.
- Burlington
HS Hardship Appeal on David Bousana – Executive Session.
David Bousana and Bob Day (BHS Soccer Coach present). Motion
by Shaun P., second by Bill L. to approve a hardship waiver
of both age and Eight semesters of eligibility for David Bousana
for the 2005-2006 school year. Legal counsel opinion needed
on age issue for the second semester (turns 20 in May 2006).
Vote – approved unanimously.
- Bob
J. presented Sportsmanship Committee recommendation that all
sports develop a minimum time penalty if a athlete receives
a card for unsportsmanlike behavior. Discussion – some sports
(hockey, lacrosse,etc.) already have this. Other sports (such
as Football) have team penalties for this type of behavior.
Soccer has you removed, but you can reenter immediately. Issue
tabled, no further action.
- Bob/Ray
reviewed Spring season. Financial report will be coming at
November meeting. No further action.
- Ray
reviewed new NFHS steroids policy. Also discussed NFHS CD
that will be sent to all member schools along with a poster.
- Vergennes
HS Hardship Appeal on Scott Bourdon. Executive Session.
Susan Bourdon, Kevin Bourdon, Scott Bourdon and Peter Maneen
present.
Motion
by Cynthia H., second by Bill L. to approve a Hardship Waiver
request (8 semester rule) for Scott Bourdon for the 2005-2006
school year. Vote – approved unanimously.
- Meeting
adjourned.
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