GEORGIA ASSOCIATION Minutes, Athletic Committee Meeting Wednesday, September 12, 2012, Tattnall, Macon

Mr. Brent Cribb, GISA Athletic Committee Chair, called the GISA Athletic Committee to order and welcomed everyone to Tattnall. The invocation was given by Mike Gold.

1. Attendance: 1A-Chuck Wimberly; 2A-Andy Callaway; 3A-Kent Copeland; 1AA-Buster Douglas; 2AA-Bert Brown; 3AA-Bill Murdock; 4AA-Charles Parker; 1AAA-Mike Gold; 2AAA-Ed Smith; 3AAA-Gordy Gruhl; 4AAA-Chandler Dennard; Soccer Representative-Iain Jones; Secretary-Treasurer GISA Coaches Association-Todd Whetsel; Athletic Committee Chair-Brent Cribb; GISA Executive Board Vice-President-Dr. Bob Veto; GISA Vice President for Interscholastics-Tommy Whittle.

2. Bids: The Athletic Committee wanted to thank all schools that made bids to host State Tournaments. The following bids were approved:

Swimming Saturday, February 2, 2013, 3:00 p.m. GA Tech (Mt de Sales and Southland)

Team Wrestling Saturday, January 12, 2013 , Macon Individual Wrestling Friday-Saturday, February 8-9, 2013 , Macon

Basketball: AAA Rd 1 Regions 1 & 3 Wed.- Thur. February 20 & 21, 2013 Tattnall Square Academy, Macon AAA Rd 1 Regions 2 & 4 Wed.- Thur. February 20 & 21, 2013 , Macon AAA Round 2 Fri.-Sat, February 22 & 23, 2013 Tattnall and Stratford (Host schools in 2nd Round will not play on their courts.) AA Rd 1 Regions 1 & 3 Wed-Thurs., February 20 & 21, 2013 Windsor Academy, Macon AA Rd 1 Regions 2 & 4 Wed-Thurs., February 20 & 21, 2013 Middle GA (Piedmont) AA Round 2 Fri-Sat, February 22 & 23, 2013 Middle GA College (Trinity Ch., Dublin) A Rd 1 Regions 1 & 3 Wed.-Thurs. February 20 & 21, 2013 ABAC (Georgia Christian) A Rd 1 Regions 2 & 4 Wed.-Thurs. February 20 & 21, 2013 South GA (Citizens Christian) A Rd 2 Fri.-Sat. February 22 &23, 2013 ABAC (Fullington)

Tennis: Individual Tournament Mon-Tues., April 22 & 23, 2013 John Drew Smith (Stratford) Team Tournament Monday, April 29, 2013 Newman Tennis Ctr (Augusta Prep)

Golf: AA Tournament Monday, May 13, 2013 Jekyll Island (Frederica) AAA Tournament Monday, May 13, 2013 Glen Arvin Country Club (Brookwood)

Soccer: AA State Finals Saturday, May 11, 2013 Frederica Academy, SSI AAA State Finals Saturday, May 11, 2013 Stratford Academy, Macon

State Track Meet Thurs-Sat., May 2-4, 2013 Mills Stadium (DWS, RSS, WW)

2. Old Business: A. Implementation of the Region Dues structure established last Spring was discussed. This process will hopefully will cut out the confusion for those schools in multiple regions. B. Bids granted in May were reviewed - Cross Country: At Darton College hosted by Deerfield-Windsor and Southland; Volleyball: Hosted by Augusta Prep: Softball: At Dublin-Laurens County Rec.; and Competitive Cheerleading hosted by John Milledge Academy. C. State Swim Meet at GA Tech cannot begin until 3:00p.m. The Committee felt that this was not a problem. D. Official Basketball sanctioned for State Tournaments became a moot point when it was discovered we had two years left on our contract with Spalding. E. Committee discussed the move from Georgia College, our home for the Final Four for 20 years, to , Macon. The percentage of gate revenue was a major consideration. F. Football Championship Games will be played at Mercer University, Macon in 2013. All three State Championships in one site on Saturday. G. Heat Policy instituted by the GISA Executive Committee is going well. Weather has cooperated so far. H. A second reading and vote will be taken at the November Heads’ Meeting concerning new varsity football schools choosing to play down a classification and not be eligible for State Playoffs.

3. Football: A. Guardian Caps: Having done research on what a guardian cap was, and how other Associations were dealing with them, Tommy Whittle proposed that GISA NOT allow guardian caps to be worn in our games. The primary reason being the NFHS Rule that equipment must be worn as the manufacturer intended. A motion was made and passed not to allow guardian caps. Effective immediately. B. Officials for State Playoffs: With a request from an Officials Association, GISA looked at their playoff assigning policy. Football was different than most other team sports in that the two coaches had the opportunity to decide on their officials. Proposal from the Athletic Committee was to begin selecting officials like the other sports for Football in 2013. Motion Passed. C. FYI: Class A chose Choice 1 for Region Tiebreakers. Classes AA and AAA chose Choice 2. D. Arlington , Fairburn dropped their Football season due to injuries that depleted their team numbers.

4. Basketball: Official’s shirts are being required for timers and scorers by NFHS. Proposal from Athletic Committee that GISA NOT adopt this rule. Motion Passed.

5. Region Dues for schools that participate in a limited number of sports: The consensus of the Committee was that every school had the option of participating in each sport, therefore full region dues should be charged.

6. Fall Sports: Softball, Volleyball, Cross Country, and Competitive Cheerleading were discussed by the Committee. There are no glaring problems other that the number of teams dropping Varsity Softball due to numbers.

7. Outside Food at Mills Stadium: Concerns were expressed by schools that host the Concession Stand at the State Track Meet regarding the amount of food brought into the stadium by spectators. The opinion of Committee was that GISA do a better job of making parents and law enforcement officials aware that this is NOT allowed.

8. Shooting Sports: Tommy Whittle reported that more than 10 schools had committed to Shooting Sports. Research is being done on the time of year, and other considerations. Both DNR and NRA have voiced a hope to help GISA get this sport underway.

9. Soccer: A. Region Alignments: A tentative Region alignment was distributed, but will not be official until GISA knows exactly which schools anticipate playing this spring, which will be made evident by the submission of the Commitment Sheet due October 1st. Schools will be made aware as soon as possible so they can be prepared at the October 22 Scheduling Meeting at Mount de Sales. B. Region Tie Breakers: Coach Iain Jones brought several tiebreakers to the committee but suggested this be tabled until the Committee could get input from the coaches at the Scheduling Meeting. Motion was tabled.

10. Eligibility Sheets: Region copies of eligibility sheets were distributed to the schools.

11. Coaches Association Report: Todd Whetsel, Secretary-Treasurer of the GISA Coaches Association, reported on this past summer’s clinic and upcoming All-Star games. The Committee commended Mr. Whetsel on how good of a job they thought he was doing.

12. Diving: The Committee discussed the request to add Diving to the Swimming events we currently have. The Committee requested that Tommy Whittle do more research to see the ramifications of adding this event and to check on interest.

13. Student Eligibility Rules: The Committee discussed several eligibility questions. The only action taken was to agree with GISA’s decision to allow a student to play 8-man football at a member school nearby the member school he is attending, with the approval of both schools involved. Although the Athletic Committee and the GISA Office both have very mixed feelings about this situation, it does not violate GISA Rules due to 8-man football not being a sanctioned GISA Sport. The Committee expressed an interest in closing this loophole in the near future.

14. Next Athletic Committee Meeting: The December Athletic Committee Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at Tattnall Square Academy, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted on September 13, 2012 Tommy Whittle, GISA Vice President for Interscholastics