TMSAA Committee Meeting Minutes

November 13, 2002

 

The Tennessee Middle School Athletic Association committee conducted its first meeting of the new school year on Wednesday, November 13, 2002, at the TSSAA office in Hermitage, Tennessee.  Members present were Denise Brown, Chic Nute, Vic King, Bob Yancey, Hardin Satterfield, and Norma Beshears.

 

A report of the current membership was given to the committee.  To date, we have a total of 254 members with 15 schools applying for new membership so far this year.  As membership grows, we are constantly looking at Area and Sectional alignments and making adjustments as needed.

 

Committee members were given an update on the number of reported incidents of unsportsmanlike behavior we had in member middle schools last year.  In their previous meeting, the committee voted to monitor this carefully and make a decision as to whether or not we should ask the Board of Control to require Game Administrators’ Meetings prior to athletic contest in all sports, which would, hopefully, set the tone for an enjoyable evening.  Currently, Game Administrators’ Meetings are required prior to middle school football and basketball games.  After much discussion, the committee voted to continue to require Game Administrators’ Meetings in football and basketball only.

 

The committee looked at mandating guidelines for host schools to follow when completing financial reports during TMSAA post-season tournaments.  Committee members decided the following:  First, every host school shall prepare a financial report immediately following the tournament.  Second, every school participating in the tournament shall be provided a copy of the financial report from the host school.  Third, during the pre-tournament meeting, administrators shall vote on the amount each individual worker should receive (example: Amount to pay director, clock operator, announcer, gate keepers, custodian, etc.).  Finally, a copy of the Tournament Financial Report shall be forwarded to the TSSAA office.  This must be approved by the TSSAA Board of Control.

 

Currently, the TMSAA Sports Calendar states member schools are allowed eight regular season dates in cross country.  A proposal was submitted to change the number of dates allowed to twelve.  The rationale given was that this would be more in line with the number of dates Junior Highs are allowed and it would help promote the sport.  Members of the committee decided to increase the number of dates allowed to twelve.  This must be approved by the TSSAA Legislative Council.

 

Several schools in East Tennessee requested that the state office set specific enrollment figures to be used during post-season tournaments to classify schools in each area.  The committee did not feel comfortable setting arbitrary numbers.  Therefore, the committee recommended that the schools in each area identify the schools that are going to participate in the post-season tournament series each year, have each school verify their enrollments, and do a 50-50 split of the area to determine classification.

 

A proposal was submitted by a member school to allow three days of basketball practice during the last two weeks of September to hold tryouts if the schools did not use their ten days of spring practice.  The proposal was denied by the committee.

 

There was a proposal to allow schools with wrestling programs to count matches held for wrestlers above 225 but still below 275 when scoring meets.  The rationale was that it would encourage heavier athletes to participate if they knew that their score was going to count.  The committee denied this request stating that the only safe way to do this would be to add several weight classes.  At the present time, coaches are responsible for matching the athletes above 225 with safety being the primary concern.