AIA board meeting: First glimpse of new opioid awareness program
February 19, 2020 by Jose Garcia, AZPreps365
The Arizona Interscholastic Association introduced the next phase of its opioid awareness program for its member schools during Tuesday’s monthly board meeting.
The program is called The Game You Can’t Win, a comic book-like video student athletes will take online. The program was developed by the Maricopa County Department of Public Health and Dr. Javier Cardenas, the director of the Barrow Concussion and Brain Injury Center and chair of the AIA’s Sports Medical Advisory Committee.
The program will be available on or about June 10. The AIA’s board passed a motion requiring schools to start adding a state or The Game You Can’t Win opioid program to the athletic packet students need to complete before competing.
By the 2021-22 school year, The Game You Can’t Win will become a mandatory course for incoming freshmen and student athletes who transfer to Arizona.
Executive director report
AIA executive director David Hines informed the board during his monthly report that the AIA’s Athletic Director/Student Leadership Advisory Committee Summit will be held on April 13 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at Xavier Prep.
The AIA is expecting about 500 male and female student athlete leaders from Arizona to attend the summit along with their athletic directors. Students should contact their athletic directors if they want to attend.
Unified Sports student athletes and their partners, principals and superintendents are also welcomed to attend the summit, Hines said.
Attendees will be asked to register for the summit and take a survey at the end to get credit for attending. The theme of this year’s summit is what’s the mission and athletic, activity and academics culture of your school and how can it be improved.
Students and athletic directors will participate in sessions during the summit, including a discussion with AD’s succeeding at engaging their students and community and implementing new programs at their schools. The summit will end with a presentation by motivational speaker Stephen Mackey.
Hines also thanked the schools that submitted videos for the school spirit award the AIA and SLAC launched. SLAC members will select the small and big school school spirit winners.
Hines also reported that Elliot Hopkins, the National Federation of State High School Association's director of sports, sanctioning and student services, attended the AIA’s state wrestling championships in Prescott Valley and walked away impressed with how well the event was run.
Hines thanked AIA wrestling tournament coordinator Dean Visser and his crew for their efforts during the tournament. Hines also noted that the pilot sport of girls wrestling continues to grow.
“The level of wrestling is unbelievable,” he said.
Next week, the AIA is meeting with members of the NFL’s InSideOut initiative at State Farm Stadium.
The non-profit was funded by the NFL Players Foundation and seeks to change the win-at-all-costs culture in high school athletics. Sportsmanship is atop the AIA's priorities, and it will work with InSideOut to help it implement new sportsmanship guidelines that will eventually replace the AIA’s Victory with Honor program.
Hines also said that the Academy of Tucson is dropping its AIA membership after this school year, and that Sedona Red Rock’s soccer programs will compete in the fall instead of the winter.
New policy and procedures
The following are new AIA policy and procedures the board approved:
Rally scoring will be implemented in badminton.
- The Division III start of competition for golf will start in the 34th week instead of the 35th to give teams an extra week to play their matches.
- The substitute procedure for beach volleyball teams to keep programs from stacking teams. If a doubles team or a partner is unable to compete for whatever reason, teams must move up the next player or doubles team in line. The new procedure for freshmen, junior varsity and varsity teams goes into effect immediately.
- The speech and debate teams will be split into two divisions with four members each. Also, for speech and debate, all students participating in contests sponsored or sanctioned by the AIA must meet transfer and academic requirements.
Agenda items passed
The following agenda items were passed during the meeting:
The board accepted and approved the audit report for the 2018-19 school year. “(AIA director of finance Denise Doser) was extremely well organized,” the auditors said during Tuesday’s meeting. “It’s extremely rare that we don’t have adjustments going from internal financials to the audit.”
- One AIA lifetime pass
- Forty-six contests and or program cancellation requests.
- Baboquivari and Trivium Prep did not consent to the contests cancellations by Tohono O’odham and North Pointe Prep, respectively.
- Additional game requests from Chaparral, Empire and Hopi sports programs.
- Chino Valley’s cross country section placement from D-III North to D-III Metro.
- American Leadership Academy Gilbert North tennis placement from D-III to Division II.
- Perry High School’s bylaw exception request for a foreign exchange student to participate on the track and field team.
- Raymond S. Kellis’ request to host an additional boys volleyball tournament.
- Coronado’s fine appeal for canceling a soccer match.
- Nadaburg High School (1A) in Wittman and Sequoia Charter in Mesa (2A) will become new AIA member schools in 2020-21.
School violations
Warning for Notre Dame girls basketball. A girls’ basketball coach ended a game with 30 seconds left in the game.
Warning for American Leadership Academy Ironwood boys basketball. The school was informed by a parent that a freshman/JV player was playing with a club team during the high school regular season. After talking to the student, the school learned that the student played in three club games.
Warning for Carl Hayden boys soccer. Boys soccer players played with outside organizations during the regular season. A contest was forfeited and students were removed from the team.
Globe High self violation report accepted. A school employee and his son, a member of the school’s basketball team, ran a couple of dribbling drills on a Sunday at the school’s gym. Teams are not allowed to practice on Sundays.
Warning for San Tan Foothills boys basketball. A boys basketball player participated in a tournament prior to becoming eligible to do so.
Warning for American Leadership Academy Queen Creek activities program. The school was informed that one of its varsity boys soccer players was not eligible to play in a holiday tournament. The school forfeited the contest.
Warning for Desert Mountain boys soccer. A JV coach played a transfer student before he was eligible to play.
Warning for Deer Valley girls soccer. The JV girls soccer coach ended a match after his team was trailing 8-0 in the 19th minute.
Warning for Gilbert Christian activities program. The entire Gilbert Christian fan section was ejected from a soccer game at Ben Franklin. In its correction action, Gilbert Christian sent letters of apology to Ben Franklin and game officials. The school held a meeting with the parents on Jan. 22. From now on, the athletic department will attend each parent meeting for teams to cover spectator etiquette and behavior expectations.
Warning for Canyon del Oro wrestling. For violating the number of wrestling meets in a season bylaw. A school can’t schedule more than 12 varsity meets, including five invitationals.
Advisement for Boulder Creek activities program. A student violated a school policy when he participated in a game despite failing a class. The coach didn’t receive an email notifying him that the student was ineligible.
Warning for Monument Valley activities program. The school’s athletic director didn't fill out the 550 form for a student who transferred to the school. The team eventually forfeited four games.
Warning for Greyhills Academy girls basketball. A senior basketball player participated in two junior varsity contests. Unless it's a 1A school, only freshmen, sophomores and juniors can participate in junior varsity matches.
Warning for Washington boys soccer. The program forfeited matches because a player participated in a Sunday city league match.
Warning for Window Rock activities program. Window Rock forfeited two of five contests boys basketball contests for playing an ineligible player.
