MONTGOMERY, AL –The Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) Central Board of Control approved and the Legislative Council ratified a record 11 legislative proposals Thursday during its 2020 Spring Legislative Council meeting held via teleconferencing for the first time in AHSAA history. All legislative proposals that passed will go into effect on June 1, 2020.
“I laud our member schools, especially the members of the AHSAA Central Board and Legislative Council for their hard work and leadership,” said AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese. “I especially want to thank the members of the AHSAA Transfer Committee under the leadership of chairperson Terry Curtis, District 1 board member, whose painstaking work has resulted in providing some excellent proposals that will help guide the AHSAA as it moves forward in our changing society.”
Among the proposals that passed was legislative proposal No. 6 which allows all transfer students competing below varsity level to be immediately eligible if all other eligibility requirements are met. That proposal passed 24-8.
Also passed was legislative proposal No. 11 which amends the Academic Rule to allow unlimited units earned in approved summer school, credit recovery or correspondence courses if completed by the first fall contest date. The proposal passed 28-4.
And legislative proposal 19, which passed 29-3, allows dependent children of full-time class room teachers or administrators who accept a position in another school attendance zone to transfer to the new school and be eligible to participate in athletics at the new school if all other eligibility requirements are met.
For a proposal to pass, it must receive a minimum 22 votes from the 32-member AHSAA Legislative Council. Each of the eight districts elect four members to serve as their representatives. The other legislative proposals that were ratified Thursday include:
PROPOSAL No. 1: Amends Rule 1, Section 4. For students who are born in a foreign country, a passport or other central board-approved government documents can be accepted as age verification for eligibility process. The proposal passed 28-4.
PROPOSAL No. 3: Changes the penalty for a Leaving the Bench Ejection to include players who are ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct and those who come off the bench onto the court or field and are ejected under National Federation rules. They will also be suspended for 20 percent of the team’s total number of regular season contests. Passed 27-5.
PROPOSAL No. 10: Amends Rule III Section 15. It clarifies that all students are prohibited from being coached by a school’s employee outside of the allowable dates. It will read: No administrator, coach or non-faculty coach from a school’s staff of the same sport may hold organized practice (except during allowable period) or competition for its school or its feeder school students (students 7-12) in that sport outside the sports season during the school year. Passed 26-6.
PROPOSAL No. 13: Amends Rule 3 Section 15. It does away with the 50% restriction and the 2-hour per athlete restriction of the rule. This will allow multiple coaches to work with multiple athletes at one time. It makes the 2-hour restriction per sport for coaching outside of the season and limits the number of weeks allowed to 10 of the approximately 20 off-season weeks. Passed 25-7.
PROPOSAL No. 14: Amends the overlapping transfer rule. After sitting out one year, the student may transfer to any school within the overlapping zone and be immediately eligible if all other eligibility requirements are met. Passed 26-6.
PROPOSAL No. 16: Amends Rule 1 Section 6 (B). Changes the start date of the summer exemption for the 50% rule to begin on the Monday following the last championship event. It would read: Note: The 50% rule is not in effect from the first Monday after the last championship event of the year until the first day of the fall sports contest (excluding week zero). Passed 28-4.
PROPOSAL No. 18: Amends Rule III Section 17. Allow Fall sports (football, volleyball, cross country, swimming) the option of having a Spring evaluation period or starting official practice a week early. The following would be added: Fall sports (football, volleyball, cross country, swimming) have the option of conducting a spring evaluation period or starting official practice on the Monday before the first Monday in August. Passed 22-10.
PROPOSAL No. 22: Amends Rule III Section 3. Simplify sanctioning requirements so that only tournaments that determine a champion need to be sanctioned. It would read: SANCTIONING REQUIREMENTS. All tournaments must be officially sanctioned by the AHSAA and/or the NFHS. A tournament is defined as an organized event in a sport when 3 or more teams participate, and an overall champion is determined through multiple contests. Passed 26-6.
