The Northeast District of the Nebraska School Activities Association met to discuss and vote on new proposals Wednesday. Since there are several district patrons interested in school activities, I will discuss briefly some of the proposals that were introduced and how the vote went. Proposals that pass go to a vote of all six districts in January.
1. Proposal to increase the number of teams that can co-op activities from 3 to 4. Passed. I see no reason to have tight limits on how many schools can co-op for a sport as long as the total enrollment of all schools involved is used to classify the team. For example, it may help small schools form baseball teams if they can join four schools together to compete in Class B.
2. Forming a study committee to look at adding a fourth (summer) sports season. Passed. I volunteered to serve on this committee. I like the Iowa system, where a fourth season runs through the first week in July for baseball and softball. It is worth looking into. This would reduce the number of summer camps that other sports have during the summer.
3. Allowing participation in more than one sport during a season. Example- a football player can also run cross-country. Many surrounding states allow two-sport participation. Failed. It was added to a topic for the fourth season study committee.
4. Moving the limit of volleyball matches in one day from 3 to 4. Failed. Four volleyball matches in one day? We just moved to a three day state volleyball tournament because coaches said that it was unfair for teams to have to play two matches in one day. Make up your minds.
5. Middle level teams may co-op with schools that are not NSAA member schools. Passed. Middle level activities are now under the control of the NSAA, pending action by the Department of Education. This proposal will allow students in parochial schools, like Zion St. John's in Wisner, to play with the public junior high teams. It is being done now. Why would we want to limit it?
