January 2024 Legislative Council Information

AURORA – With the January Legislative Council meeting just two weeks away, one of the hot ticket items that has been discussed over the course of the last couple of years could come to a conclusion, as the democratic arm of the association will vote on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at the DCSD Legacy Campus on whether or not to implement the shot clock for boys and girls basketball.
 
The Colorado High School Activities Association will also present new bylaw proposals and committee reports to the Legislative Council, a member group of 75 representatives from across the state of Colorado. Each primary league has representation, in addition to representation from the Colorado Association of School Executives, Colorado Association of School Boards, and the Colorado Athletic Directors Association. This diverse group is tasked with making decisions that they feel best for all student-participants across the state.

The shot clock has been a popular topic throughout the past couple of years, with discussions revolving around implementation timeline, including the level of play that should be impacted, survey data – which has consistently shown that roughly 60% of member schools support the idea of implementing a shot clock – and as of more recently, two particular issues: the first being the cost of installation and the second being the challenge of finding additional personnel to run the shot clock.
 
With the move toward the shot clock in high school basketball growing quickly across the country, CHSAA has consulted with different states around the country to learn how implementation has gone for each of those states to ensure the right decision is made for Colorado. In May 2021, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) approved a 35-second shot clock, and with the addition of five states adding it for the 2023-24 season (Connecticut, Idaho, Minnesota, North Carolina and Oregon), 27 state associations will utilize a shot clock in some capacity this year.
 
If a yes vote comes out of the meeting on Jan. 30, that would mean the shot clock would be implemented for the 2026-27 school year at all levels, while a no vote would mean that the shot clock would not be implemented at the high school level in Colorado.
 
CHSAA has two Legislative Council meetings per year, and the second meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 5.

Following the Legislatice Countil meeting, CHSAA will host the 2024 CHSAA Hall of Fame Banquet. Tickets are open to the public and must be purchased in advance (no tickets will be sold at the door).
 
A complete list of bylaw proposals and committee reports can be found here. The committee reports not included in this packet will be included in the May packet and voted on during the May meeting. 
 
Some of the specific bylaw proposals and committee report changes are as follows:
  
Administrative and Athletic Proposals (requires majority vote for approval) are:

• In order to prevent championships being scheduled on Memorial Day weekend, during specific calendar years (2024-25, 2025-26, 2030-31, etc.), the sport practice, scrimmage and competition dates will start one week earlier.
• The football schedule will be standardized to where all teams may begin competition on the Thursday of Week 7 according to the NFHS Calendar.
• Allow sub-varsity volleyball teams to play 23 matches, just like varsity is allowed to play. Currently the sub-varsity limit is 19. There is a proposal coming from a league that was not discussed by the volleyball committee. 

 
Other major changes coming from the committee reports include:

• Approving four schools moving from preliminary to probationary membership (Two Roads Charter, Ascent Classical, Liberty Tree, Monument Academy).
• Recommended changes to the current Tournament and Playoff Finance structure.
• Esports remaining an activity, but it is proposing to add an academic eligibility requirement. 
• Field hockey recommends the creation of a multi-league postseason bracket to help expand opportunities to more programs in the postseason.
• Soccer would like to expand the 2A postseason bracket from 16 to 24 teams.
• Girls and boys tennis is recommending to bring back team points at individual regionals.
• Volleyball requests that geography be eliminated in the regional seeding criteria for girls and that a “default” date and time be set for regionals if a date and time cannot be mutually agreed upon.
• The volleyball committee created an eight-team playoff bracket for the new two-class format in boys volleyball.