Legislative Council preview: Big agenda includes proposals to change football and baseball seasons
AURORA — The Legislative Council meets next month, and they’ll have their hands full with more than 40 items to vote on.
It’ll be a busy meeting with a wide range of proposals and committee reports. Find a full agenda and complete information here. The group will meet on Jan. 25 at the Radisson Denver Southeast.
Among proposal highlights:
- Changing football to align with the NFHS calendar.
- Lengthening baseball’s season.
- The creation of a foundation game to act as a fundraiser.
- Adjusting the allowed Sunday contact for seniors.
We’ll break these down below.
Changes to the football calendar
One proposal, coming from the Centennial League and backed by the football committee, seeks to align football with the NFHS calendar. If passed, it would mean that 2018 practice would start on Aug. 6 as opposed to Aug. 13.
The rationale behind the proposal is that in increases player safety by increasing the amount of non-padded and non-contact practice, and gives them more time to acclimate before games. Additionally, it would help scheduling as surrounding states by and large use the NFHS calendar to start practice.
This change would also make Week 1 on Aug. 23-25, and give all classes save for 5A a bye week during the regular season. 5A, which is proposing going to a 24-team playoff, would get its bye in the postseason. Teams could scrimmage starting on Aug. 16.
All postseason dates would stay the same if this proposal passes. It requires a simple majority to do so.
Adding games to the baseball season
The Centennial and Continental Leagues have teamed up to propose lengthening baseball’s regular season.
A topic discussed at length during the baseball committee, this proposal would specifically increase the varsity games limit to 23 for classifications that do not play district tournaments. Only 1A and 2A play district tournaments, so this proposal only affects 3A, 4A and 5A.
(There is a companion proposal which also increases innings limits to go in line with the games increase.)
Colorado hasn’t increased the number of baseball games it plays since 1966. The rationale behind the proposal points out that other Northern states play “in excess of 25-25 games” during their regular seasons. This proposal also mirrors the current format in volleyball.
Foundation game
The Board of Directors is proposing the creation of a new Foundation Benefit Contest, which will allow schools to raise funds for their programs.
The Foundation game (or match) is for all sports, and for varsity or sub-varsity programs. These contests will not count toward the regular season game limits, nor will their result have an impact on any consideration for the postseason.
Schools can charge admission, but must contract officials and keep score of the contest. There is a sanctioning fee that helps support the Foundation for Colorado High School Students Activities, the CHSAA Hall of Fame, and CHSAANow.
Sunday contact for seniors
This proposal, which also comes from the Board of Directors, would create an exception to allow for Sunday contact with seniors who have finished their careers.
Notably:
If the student is a multi-sport athlete, they are not allowed to have Sunday Contact with their coach until they have completed their high school sport participation in that particular sport, so long as that coach doesn’t also coach additional sports that athlete will participate in during the remainder of their senior year.
For example, if an athlete participates in volleyball and girls basketball, she would be allowed to have Sunday contact with her volleyball coach after that season ends, so long as that volleyball coach doesn’t also coach girls basketball.
Committee reports need approval
There are 15 committee reports up for approval. We have had coverage of a number of them:
- The Classification and League Organizing Committee set new enrollment splits for all sports. They also approved the initial membership of seven new schools.
- The volleyball committee is recommending a new bracket format for its state tournament.
- The cross country committee is recommending a run six, score four format. There is a separate proposal which seeks to reverse this recommendation — which is exactly what happened at Legislative Council last January. The XC committee also recommended having a fifth team advance out of 2A regionals.
- There weren’t many major changes from the softball committee, but they did consider some postseason changes.
- The baseball committee recommended postseason changes in 1A and 2A, and also backed that 23-game proposal.
- The football committee set is new two-year alignment, and also recommended expanding 5A to a 24-team playoff. The committee also recommended a neutral site for the 2A and 3A championship games.
Elsewhere:
- The field hockey committee adjusted overtime procedures for postseason games. Their recommendation is one 10-minute OT with a full field (11-on-11) of players. If still tied, the game would go to a second 10-minute OT, but at 7-on-7. If still tied, the game would go to a shootout.
- The soccer committee is recommending expanding the 3A girls postseason field from 24 to 32 teams. Boys soccer is set to add 2A in the fall of 2018, which has already been approved.
- The tennis committee recommends that coaching now be allowed “off court during all point, game and set breaks in a match” so long as it doesn’t cause a disruption.
