UIL council hears proposed rule changes

Jun. 15—ROUND ROCK — Members of the University Interscholastic League held a public forum Tuesday morning, hearing from various coaches and representatives on proposed rule changes, including inclusion of sixth graders to regular 1A competition and implementing a 15-run rule for softball playoffs.

Kathy Schoettle, head softball coach in Allen and the softball committee chair for the Texas High School Coaches' Association, said she wanted to revisit a run rule proposed for softball playoffs.

The rule, she said, was first introduced in October and its wording has been amended since, passing unanimously through different committees — represented by 6A through 2A — since it was initially drafted.

"[We] would like to proposed the 15-run rule after three innings, allowed in the regular season, to be extended to bi-district and area rounds in postseason play," she told the UIL legislative council. "Currently, schools may use the 15-run rule during regular season and the district's executive committee can also adopt that for their district rules."

Schoettle said the run rule promotes safety and integrity, and 92 percent of coaches who took part in a survey were in favor of using the run rule — with mutual agreement by both teams — in the postseason.

"This year in bi-district, we had a score differential of 15 or more runs in 90-plus games," she said. "In one three-game series that played two games, both resulted in 29-0 run differentials."

The majority of those game out of the 4A divisions (23), and 2A and 3A (19 each). If approved, the run rule would have been effective in August.

One council member said a statistic that would interest him would be how many times a team has come back from a 15-run deficit, to which Schoettle said she did not have that figure.

The standing committee on athletics later Tuesday "denied, rejected or took no action" on the proposal.

John Carter, the head baseball coach at Round Rock and representing the Texas High School Baseball Coaches' Association, requested a pilot program instituting a best-of-three series at the 5A and 6A levels for all UIL baseball playoff matches, pending mutual agreement by both coaches of a one-game series.

Of all postseason matches, Carter said there were only nine one-game matches at 5A and 6A levels, with 86 percent playing a best-of-three series. Of those polled, he said 82 percent of coaches were in favor of best-of-three, with a rationale to get the best team to move forward.

"We felt it best to try it at 5A and 6A first before moving down," Carter told the board.

One member noted that an option of double elimination had been previously suggested, but the head coach said there were complications to that, including STAAR testing and weather.

Committee members approved further study of the proposal.

Bobby Kleinecke, the executive director of the THS Tennis Coaches' Association, said he had no new proposals to present but did want to share a product they are working on.

While other programs, including football, basketball, baseball and softball, use MaxPreps as a centralized scoring system, Kleinecke said they did not have a format for tennis.

"The U.S. Tennis Association has financed a platform for this," he said, noting that they hope to put the pilot program out there in January.

Michael Fitch, representing the Texas Association of Sports Officials as executive director, presented two proposals, the first to address the skyrocketing cost of gas and vehicle maintenance.

"Our officials travel more than 35 million miles a year, going to and from games and meetings," he said.

The second proposal included formulating a 10-year plan to schedule fee increases for officials.

"This is good for schools and ADs, because they can budget, and it's good for our members because they can see when the next fee increases are coming," Fitch said.

Both the state and nation are experiencing shortages in officials, he said, noting for every 10 officials they get in one year, they'll lose five of them by the next year, and another three the year after that.

"We don't have a hiring problem, we have a retention problem," he said.

Committee members later approved an increase in travel reimbursements for officials by $5 to begin in the 2022-23 school year, as well as a 10-year compensation plan.

When it comes to the track and field scoring, Shelton Ervin, president of the Texas Track and Field Coaches' Association, presented a proposal to include scoring for seventh and eighth place, emulating the college model. At the Texas high school level, only those who finish through sixth place earn points.

"There are potentially 52 more athletes per classification per gender that would score points if we went to the eighth place model at state," Ervin said.

The model, which would follow for relays as well, would include 10 points for first place; eight points for second; six points for third, five points for fourth; three points for sixth; two points for seventh; and one point for eighth.

The council either rejected, or took on action, on the track scoring proposal.

Brent McCuiston, a golf coach representing the THSCA, said his proposal would allow assistant golf coaches the opportunity to coach on the course during a tournament.

Currently, only one coach is allowed during the state tournament, and if an assistant coach even hands a player a bottle of water, or an umbrella during bad weather, they could be subject to a penalty.

"That assistant coach that has worked with the team throughout the year is relegated to an observer," McCuiston said.

An added benefit would allow for teams who may have one head coach over both the boys' and girls' programs to be able to send a coaching representative to each tournament.

Council members later voted to authorize staff to study the proposal further.

Terry Crawford, representing the Six-Man Coaching Association, presented his proposal to allow sixth grade students to participate in Class 1A athletics.

"This proposal started a while back with us coming and asking for an amendment," he said. "Class 1A and 2A are allowed to use [a sixth grader] if they fall below a certain number [of athletes], but they're only allowed to play for one game."

The new amendment would allow them to participate in all events, with 90 percent of coaches surveyed in favor of the change.

The standing athletics committee authorized a study and survey of the proposal.

Smithson Valley Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Larry Hill brought up concerns over the 5A football divisions, broken down into Divisions I and II based on enrollment.

"With 5A ranging from 1,300 to 2,224, there is a wide disparity between the top and bottom," he told the council.

The initial idea, he said was to have the larger schools compete against the larger schools and the smaller schools against the smaller.

"What has happened in 5A is, as enrollment has grown, more and more 5As have come from multiple-school ISDs," Hill said. "And we've had many of what would be Division II schools hop up to Division I. Most of those are from multiple-school ISDs."

It's caused schools to play in different regions (in other sports), which is uncommon in larger classifications, he added, which can affect travel, particularly during the playoffs.

Hill proposed two options. One, to no longer allow opt-ups and the other to do away with it and adopt the model used in 6A.

"You'd be in a district and region and geographic that makes a lot more sense," he said. "And you'd keep your long-standing rivalries."

Hill proposed the options be looked at to go into effect during the next realignment in February of 2024. Committee members later Tuesday authorized a further study by staff of the proposal.

Jamie Graham, of Amarillo, made a request for a Game Day Live division to be added to the spirit state championships.

The competition would allow musical performers to play the band chant and fight song while engaging with spirit leaders during the performance, she said.

"I would argue that the music — the drums, the band — is perhaps the most important element promoting gameday spirit," Graham said, adding that it would allow more students to participate at the spirit state championships.

Bryan Bunselmeyer, executive director of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, said he was there to put a face to the name.

"We are hitting our 50th year," he said, "and our organization was founded because private schools were not allowed eligibility in the UIL."

Bunselmeyer said he was there to provide any help they needed, adding that TAPPS has had the 15-run rule for about four years, and "ain't nobody come back."

Another speaker was a parent, representing his high school children involved in multiple sports.

Eric Estrada asked the council to consider extended the gap between basketball and soccer, or reschedule the seasons so that athletes could partake in both if they choose.

Standing committee members would later approve authorization of a study into adding the new division for cheerleaders with a live pep band.

Laura Peter, a head soccer coach out of Friendswood and president of the Texas Association of Soccer Coaches, said she had heard of a proposal to move the soccer season, and asked council members to include her organization in any conversations going forward.

Council members would later "deny, reject or take no action" on moving the soccer season, as well as a proposed suggestion to ban freshmen from playing varsity sports.

To view the full report and actions taken by the standing committee Tuesday, visit www.uiltexas.org/files/policy/LC-General-Session-Packet-22-23.pdf.