Many school administrators really didn’t know what to do when thunderstorms rumbled through Arkansas last fall and halted a number of high school football games.
At A Glance
Arkansas Activities Association
Meeting Of The Governing Body
WHEN: 10:15 a.m. today
WHERE: Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock
They will have a better idea the next time it happens if Proposal No. 7 passes today during the Arkansas Activities Association’s yearly meeting with the state’s schools in Little Rock.
The proposal provides game-ending procedures for football games in the event they are stopped and can’t resume that night. A nonconference game that is stopped before the end of the first half will be declared “no contest,” while a game stopped at any point in the second half and not be replayed will be declared over, with the score at that point standing.
Conference games, however, will resume at the point where play stopped unless both schools’ administrators agree to end them. Games will resume between 10 a.m and 7 p.m. the following day unless inclement weather causes them to be pushed to Monday.
Farmington athletic director Brad Blew was among those who pondered the next move during his school’s Sept. 7 game with West Fork. The Cardinals had a 19-0 lead when storms halted play in the first quarter, then the two teams resumed play before a second round of storms ended the game in the third quarter.
“I remember at one point when we felt like we were beating our head against the wall,” Blew said. “Last year was such a strange year. We had more weather and lightning issues than we had in the last decade.”
There wasn’t a procedure in the AAA handbook last fall when a number of games never started — including Prairie Grove’s game at Morrilton — or were halted and never resumed. AAA deputy executive director Joey Walters later said that if schools couldn’t agree to reschedule or finish those games, they would be considered “no contests.”
“At least this gives us a guideline to go by,” Prairie Grove football coach Danny Abshier said. “I really don’t have a problem with it, although you might have some that complain about it.”
Blew said Proposal No. 5 is the one that has most of his attention. If it passes, Class 5A and Class 6A schools will be combined into one classification.
Farmington will be moving up to Class 5A in the 2014-16 cycle, and Blew said his school will already have to deal with extended travel. This proposal, however, could put Farmington in the same conference with Siloam Springs, Greenwood, Alma and Russellville — the largest 6A school with more than double the students Farmington has.
“That proposal has given me a little heartburn,” Blew said. “I don’t see that as being a plus, and I’ve had others tell me that it won’t help the travel issues that much.
“I think this is a case of the 6A schools getting a taste of the 7A schools, and now they want to become the big dogs. I really don’t hope this one doesn’t get any legs.”
Two separate proposals deal with splitting high school swimming into two separate classifications. Proposal No. 3 would split 7A schools from everybody else, while Proposal No. 4 would put 7A and 6A schools in one class and the remaining schools in the other group.
“It really won’t affect us either way,” Bentonville assistant swimming coach Nick Nersesian said. “I know there are some good 6A swimmers that can compete with the 7A swimmers, and they might think that’s unfair to them.
“There’s probably some 5A swimmers that feel they can compete the bigger schools if they put in the time and effort. It’s all about the times and trying to reach the meet qualifications in swimming.”
NEW PROPOSALS
(WITH AAA BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS)
Proposal No. 1: Nonpublic schools’ enrollment figures shall be taken from the school’s report to ANSAA and shall be a three-year average of the Oct. 1 enrollment (Board recommendation: Do Pass).
Proposal No. 2: Separate Class 6A and Class 7A schools at the state bowling tournament had have four classifications in that sport. (Board: Do Not Pass)
Proposal No. 3: Separate 7A schools from 6A and below at the state swimming and diving meets. (Board: Do Not Pass)
Proposal No. 4: Make two statewide classficiations for swimming and diving, with 7A and 6A in one class and 5A and under in another. (Board: Do Pass)
Proposal No. 5: An amendment to the state’s classificiations that would combine 5A and 6A schools into a 48-school classification. (Board: Do Not Pass)
Proposal No. 6: Will add four at-large members to the AAA Board Of Directors, and these members shall represent the female gender, ethnic minorities and one non-public school member. (Board: Do Pass)
Proposal No. 7: Sets game-ending procedures for conference and nonconference football games that are suspended because of matters beyond the administrative authority. (Board: Do Pass)
Proposal No. 8: Students enrolling in a public charter school must be enrolled by July 1 and have CSAP forms signed by the public charter school. Those enrolling after July 1 prior to entering the 10th grade will not be eligible for one calendar year. (Board: Do Pass)
Proposal No. 9: Gives the AAA authority to review game film to rule on unsportsmanlike activity by coaches, players, administrators, students and fans that occur before, during and after an event. (Board: Do Pass)
Proposal No. 10: Allows students who meet all eligibility requirements except the transfer rule to be eligible for junior varsity competition as long as the JV CSAP form is signed by both school administrations before the student participates interscholastically (Board: Do Pass)
Proposal No. 11: Sets penalties on schools for use of an ineligible coach, which includes probation for the sport that uses the ineligible coach and a fine on the school (Board: Do Pass)
Proposal No. 12: Sets penatlies on schools for use of an ineligible player in any interscholastic contest, which includes a forfeit of that event, probation on the sport that uses an ineligible player and fines on the school (Board: Do Pass)
Proposal No. 13: Expands the two-week dead period observed by the AAA to three weeks. (Board: Do Not Pass)
Proposal No. 14: Moving the two-week dead period observed by the AAA to include the week prior to July 4 and the week of July 4 (Board: Do Pass)
Proposal No. 15: A clarification on the violation or prohibition of recruitment or attempted recruitment of students for athletic purposes. (Board: Do Pass)