Highlights from Monday's AIA executive board meeting

August 20, 2012 by Jose Garcia, AZPreps365


The first Arizona Interscholastic Association executive board meeting of the 2012-13 school year had its share of contentious moments, but a lot was also accomplished.

The first part of Monday’s meeting at the AIA’s office in Phoenix was dominated by the membership comments portion of the agenda. Members of the Arizona Football Coaches Association and the executive board first agreed to disagree on some items, including the start of the football season, the format of the state’s sections, a contract the AIA signed with a national company and how the AIA and AzFCA communicate.  

But after the emotions settled, the board and the AzFCA agreed that they each will work on opening the proper lines of communication.

“If we are not using the system properly, we will run into problems,” said this year’s AIA executive board president Art Wagner. “We need to use our chain of command.”

The board also agreed to table the 50 mile radius/transfer rule until March.

Member schools need to discuss the proposal more before it comes up for a vote, Wagner said. If the transfer proposal were to pass during this school year, it wouldn’t go into effect until the 2013-14 school year.

Here are other highlights from Monday’s board meeting:

--A wrestling proposal to change the number of state participants was passed.

Beginning this season only four wrestlers in each weight class from each section will advance to a one-day sectional meet.

The soccer, volleyball and basketball postseason changes proposals were not approved during Monday’s board meetings. But the soccer, volleyball and basketball advisory committees can continue to work on their plans to change the number of postseason teams.  

“We can still adjust the proposals that didn’t pass,” Wagner said.

--Phoenix Arizona Lutheran athletic director Doug Meyer addressed the board about the private/public school proposal. More criteria is needed to determine which teams will move up or down a division, Meyer said.

-- Chandler Hamilton's request to allow its football team to practice on the Sunday before its trip to Ireland was declined.

--The board is looking at ways to minimize the costs for families attending postseason games. A family and day pass options were discussed. 

Also, high school fans may be allowed to purchase postseason tickets online in the future.