The NMAA, a member-led organization, provides leadership in interscholastic athletics & activities, promoting equitable participation and character development.
Board Summary 1-24-07
Mike Phipps (Artesia Superintendent) was voted the NMAA Board of Directors President and Janel Ryan (Farmington Superintendent) was elected the Board of Directors Vice President.
Action Item General: The Board of Directors approved the following addition to the NMAA Handbook to clarify the terms “participant, participation and practice.”
Participant- A student who represents his/her school for any period of time. A participant is any Student who has an official role with an athletic program, including, but not limited to, managers, statisticians, team videographers, etc.
Participation- It shall be considered a season in that sport when a student has been enrolled in and practiced at that school for five (5) or more school days.
Practice- A structure period of time in which a coach or other agent of the school directs the activities of a sports team or part of a team (this does not apply to conditioning sessions). If a student has not previously been a participant in a particular athletic program, the tryout period is not considered practice. If a student has been a participant in a particular athletic program the previous year, the start of the “tryout period” is considered practice. Tryouts must be completed one day prior to the first contest.
Action Item General: The Board of Directors approved the following addition to the NMAA Handbook regarding the financial responsibility for appeals initiated by member schools.
Appeals to the Appeals Committee and Board of Directors shall be verified by the petitioning school district Superintendent’s signature. In signing the appeal request, the Superintendent agrees to accept an appeal fee of a minimum of $250 not to exceed $500. This fee will cover a portion of the NMAA appeal expenses. If the appeal is overturned or modified, the appeal fee will be waived. Fees can’t be charged to the parents directly or indirectly.
Action Item General: The Board of Directors approved the following the following procedures to be added to the NMAA Handbook regarding procedures for athletes and coaches who have been ejected and are required to sit out the next regularly scheduled contest.
Students:
- Student athletes may not dress out in uniform, participate in warm-up, or be directly involved with the contest in any way.
- Student athletes may attend the contest, sit on the bench, or stand on the sidelines if approved by the local school administration.
- Student athletes may travel with the team for out of town contests, if approved by the local school administration.
- Any violation of this policy may result in further sanctions as deemed necessary by the Executive Director.
Coaches:
- Coaches must leave the premises of the scheduled contest 30 minutes prior to the start of the event. The coach may have absolutely no further communication with any team personnel (coaches, team members, mangers, trainers, etc) until the contest is concluded.
- Coaches may travel with the team for out of town contests in the capacity of a chaperone, but must adhere to the rule stated above prior to and during the contest.
- Coaches may attend contests of other teams during the sit out period providing the other game(s) are being played at a site other than that of the coach’s team.
- Any violations of this policy may result in further sanctions as deemed necessary by the Executive Director.
Action Item General: The Board of Directors approved the clarification of out-of-season coaches versus one hour a day for athletes not involved in a current sport to be added to the NMAA Handbook.
Currently Rule 7.4 states: There shall be no out-of-season coaching during the school year…with the exception of an athletic class or one hour a day Monday through Friday for those sports programs that do not have an athletic class.
Rule 7.4 Exception: If a student-athlete is not currently participating in a sport, but is involved in an athletic class whose sport is not in season, the student-athlete may then participate for one hour a day on school days in his/her second sport.
Example: A football player who is enrolled in a football athletic class during the off season may participate for one hour a day with the baseball coach after school as long as the baseball program does not have an athletic class and the student is not involved in a winter sport.
Action Item General: The Board of Directors approved the definition of “hardship” to be added to the NMAA Handbook.
The Hardship Review Committee will review eligibility cases which include extraordinary medical, financial or other circumstances that occur or are initiated within the immediate household of the student being petitioned and are deemed to have contributed to non-compliance with specific eligibility rules.
Extraordinary Circumstances:
A) Are unforeseeable, unavoidable and uncorrectable on the part of the student and immediate household.
B) Are not the result of actions by the student.
C) Bear a direct, causal relationship to the hardship and the student’s inability to meet the specific eligibility criteria.
D) Are unique to the student and immediate household.
Note: Extraordinary circumstances are not applicable where it is proven that the move was athletically motivated or there was undue influence on the part of the receiving school.
Medical Circumstances:
A) A long-confirming illness, injury or death that results is:
- A change of the residence or the school attendance of the student’s immediate household.
- The significant interruption of the student’s normal progression towards graduation.
B) Illness, injury or other circumstances of a similar nature must be verified in writing by a licensed health professional.
Financial Circumstances:
A) Changes in financial condition which are permanent, substantial and significantly beyond the control of the student or the student’s immediate household.
B) Documentation verifying the financial circumstances must be submitted with the petition.
Action Item Football: The Board of Directors adopted procedures for coin flips when two teams must flip to determine a game site in the sport of football. The procedures are:
A) Coin flips will be administered at the NMAA office as soon as possible, but no later than 12 noon on Monday of the playoff week.
B) A minimum of two NMAA staff members will be present to administer the flip.
C) If both schools are not able to be present at the coin flip; the flip will occur via teleconference for both schools involved.
D) The coin will be supplied by the NMAA.
E) The coin will be flipped by an NMAA staff member and the coin will be allowed to hit the floor.
F) The higher seed will call the flip.
Action Item Soccer: The Board of Directors approved the implementation of a revised NMAA Soccer Misconduct Progression rule which will go into effect for the 2007 season.
The rule will now read:
A) Yellow cards received during regular season or tournament competition must be counted. Once a player has accumulated five yellow cards, they are suspended for the next game. Once the player accumulates three additional yellow cards (totaling eight yellow cards), they are suspended for the next two games and are required to attend a meeting with the school’s Athletic Director, head coach and the NMAA Executive Director or his/her designee. Any additional yellow cards received by a player after eight total cards will be subject to more severe penalties by the NMAA Executive Director, including but not limited to suspension from additional contests.
B) Any team whose players and coaches, during the regular season, collectively receive a total of 24 or more yellow cards (including all second yellow/red cards and straight red cards) will be required to attend a meeting with the school’s Athletic Director and the NMAA Executive Director or his/her designee.
C) Any school receiving 32 or more yellow cards will be prohibited from participation in post-season. Any yellow/red cards received by the coach will count toward the 32 card total. (Note: The 32 card total is in effect for a two-year block, at which time this amount will be revisited by the NMAA Soccer Sport-Specific Committee and NMAA Commission.)
D) If a player receives a red card or a second yellow card resulting in disqualification, that individual is suspended for the next scheduled game. These are minimum penalties. All yellow and red cards must be reported to the NMAA.
E) Upon the commencement of post-season, all players and coaches receive a “clean slate” for the accumulation of cards. However, any pending sit-out resulting from the accumulation of cards or a direct send-off must be fulfilled in post-season if the requirement for a sit-out has not been satisfied during the regular season. For example, if a player receives his/her fifth yellow card or is sent off during the final regular season game, he/she will be required to sit out the first game of the post-season if the team has qualified for post-season competition or the first game of the next season if the team has not qualified for post-season competition.
Action Item Soccer: The Board of Directors approved the implementation of the World Cup Format for the 2007 State Soccer Championships rather than the 2008 State Championships. Teams will be seeded into four pools of three; the winner of each pool will advance to the semifinals. World Cup play will occur on Nov. 1-3, 2007, with the semifinals and finals being played Nov. 8 and 9, 2007. Both rounds are scheduled to be played at the Bernalillo Soccer Complex.
Action Item Track & Field/ Swimming & Diving: The Board of Directors approved that member schools have seven (7) calendar days to post qualifying marks established at qualifying meets. This is to be done through the NMAA via www.directathletics.com.
General discussion items included:
- 90 Day versus 180 day ineligibility period.
- Alignment and Classification for the next two year block.
- Legislative Session: Issues that directly affect the NMAA.
- State Swimming and Diving Championships (Sites, Dates, Etc.)
- State Wrestling Championships and other wrestling issues
- State Basketball Championships (Sites, Dates, Etc.)
