Rules

The MHSA executive board recently met for their MHSA 2010 Annual meeting. There were six proposals on the agenda that had mixed reviews.
The one that sparked my interested was the first one: to allow eighth graders to participate in high school athletics.
Alberton Public Schools propose the following amendment to By-Laws, Article II, Section (5) STUDENT

BELOW NINTH GRADE, subpart 5.1 on page 20 of the current MHSA Handbook:
5.1 No student who is enrolled in a grade below the ninth shall be eligible to participate in an
Association contest, except as noted in Part C or eighth grade students meeting the following
requirements:
a. Eighth grade student(s) may play on a high school volleyball and basketball team. The number
allowed for practice/participation would be those needed to make a scrimmage type situation for
the team. This would be twelve (12) for volleyball and ten (10) for basketball. A track team
without sufficient numbers for a relay team may use eighth grade students only on their relay
teams. (A high school team may have more than one eighth grade student on their team.)
b. Permission for eighth grade participation must be requested by the school and authorization
granted by the Executive Director of the MHSA. All eighth grade player names will be submitted
to the MHSA Executive Director prior to their first practice. Those eighth grade practice
participants would be eligible to play in the varsity contests upon meeting all eligibility criteria and
upon approval granted by the MHSA Executive Director.
c. Eighth grade students allowed to participate by the Executive Director will have eight semesters
of high school eligibility remaining when they enroll in the ninth grade.
The official MHSA waiver form must be used.

Proposed replacement:
5.1 Eighth grade students are allowed to play in any sanctioned MHSA sport in all classes (AA,
A, B, C) if the local school district has approved participation for eighth grade students.
Eighth grade students who are allowed to participate by their local school district will have
eight semesters of high school eligibility remaining when they enroll in the ninth grade.
Rationale:
1. Takes the decision out of the hands of the MHSA Executive Director or Executive Board and places
it at the local level. Each and every district would decide whether to allow eighth grade students the
opportunity to participate.
2. Would allow smaller schools a chance to fill junior varsity schedules.
3. Would help fill smaller wrestling weights for schools.
As Montana’s enrollment numbers shrink, the time has arrived that we allow eighth grade students the
chance to participate. The decision would be local control only.

In Minnesota, seventh graders are allowed to try out for varsity athletics and if they make the team, they play. If they make the JV team, they play. Sixth graders are allowed to participate on the swimming/diving teams since there aren’t any middle school swim/dive teams.
Yea, things can get a little weird when you have seventh or eighth graders riding the bus and spending a lot of time with seniors in high school. My opinion is that if the seventh/eighth grader is good enough to play at that high level at that young of an age, than let them. They are going to get bored at the lower levels they are forced to play at. My brother was that way in baseball. As a seventh grader, he played middle school baseball and rocked it. The next year, he tried out for varsity and was a starter ever since. I was a senior when he was an eighth grader on the varsity team, so it would be weird that he was hanging out with kids my age, but things worked out.
In Montana, the rationale might be a little bit different, as in this proposal is to help fill JV and sometimes varsity teams. Its more about participation than skill. Still, I agree with the proposal.
Currently, eighth graders are allowed to play on basketball, volleyball and track. This proposal aims at wrestling, I think, since football teams are usually full.
There are many wrestling teams that forfeit at the lower weight classes because it can be hard to find a high schooler that is at 98 pounds or lower. At the least, the eighth grader can help fill those lower classes and more kids are able to participate.
North Dakota allows 8th-graders to play certain sports, although contact sports like football aren't included.

Behind this proposal is the declining enrollment in the Class C schools. They have 100 votes and two-thirds is needed to pass the resolution.
The original proposal by Alberton would have extended 8th-grade participation to all classes and all sports, but that was amended by Medicine Lake to apply to Class C schools only, and to exclude football.
That amendment passed, and the schools voted 79-69 to pass the rules change. But because two-thirds of the schools must ratify amendments to MHSA bylaws, the proposal failed.

This means that the rules will not change, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be studied and brought up again next year.

All of the proposals can be viewed at http://www.mhsa.org/MHSAInfo.htm under the January 2010 meeting.

Mascots

The University of North Dakota Sioux have been long time hockey rivals to my alma matter- the Golden Gophers.
But, if UND’s mascot changed, would it be the same? I don’t know. I can’t imagine having a Gopher-Sioux battle titled anything else. The Fighting Sioux in their black and green gloss jerseys have been a source of bitter feelings but in the last five or ten years, their mascot has been deemed offensive by the NCAA.
Is it?
I have no right to decide if that is offensive to any Native American. Schools in Montana have some borderline mascots and no one, that I’ve heard, has complained.
If UND receives tribal approval before November 2010, they will be able to keep their name.
“In 2005, the NCAA ruled that the nickname was "hostile and abusive" to Native Americans and said the school would be barred from hosting postseason events if they didn't change the name. The Board of Higher Education sued in response to that ruling and the two sides settled in 2007 with the NCAA saying that they could keep the name if they received tribal approval before November 2010.”
UND isn’t a DI school, only its hockey team participates at that level and do so in one of the top-three arenas in the nation. The Ralph Englestad Arena is top notch and when one walks into it, they know they are in the Sioux domain.
Rumor has it that the Sioux won’t be able to use the facilities if they change their name, something that was written into the contract. If they are able to use the building, how awkward is that going to be if the logos are unable to be removed because of the cost?

“It's also unclear how a nickname change would affect the $100 million dollar Engelstad Arena, where UND plays hockey.
When Ralph Engelstad donated the money to build the arena, he ordered thousands of Fighting Sioux logos built into the structure.
There's even a large logo in the granite floor of the concourse. Engelstad said he wanted to ensure the logos could never be removed from the arena.
The arena is operated by a foundation, not the university.”

Last week, North Dakota's Board of Higher Education says the state should ask the Supreme Court to speed up an appeal by Spirit Lake Sioux members who want to keep the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname.
A state judge ruled last month that the board can drop the nickname and Indian head logo before a November deadline set in an agreement with the NCAA. The tribal group appealed last week.
Board attorney Pat Seaworth says it normally takes the higher court about seven months to decide an appeal. The board hopes to have a ruling within 30 days.
The board approved the motion 5-3 on Thursday.
UND President Robert Kelley and Athletic Director Brian Faison said they would like the issue solved quickly so the school can pursue entrance into the Summit League.

There however is a loophole here. Since the arena is not owned by the university and is a private arena rented out to the university by The Englestad trust, which as part of the deal it originally struck
with the University during the building process stated that the nickname and logo would not change, UND would
have until the year 2031 when it takes over the rights to the building according to contract, to remove the over 2000 Fighting Sioux logos that are emblazoned all over the arena. However, up until those renovations take place, without tribal approval of the nickname (which seems unlikely at this point) The University of North Dakota, by NCAA ruling would be unable to host any NCAA tournament games.

Onto less serious news:
I went to the Polson-Columbia Falls wrestling meet last night. I was excited to see that 171-pound wrestler Brock Picard was featured in the first match of the night. I haven’t got to take any pictures of him wrestling, so this was my big chance. The match starts and I turned on my camera. When I raised my camera to shoot some shots, the match was over. Picard had pinned the kid so quickly. The Pirates went on to win 54-27, winning all but five weight classes.

There are a couple rivalry games this week. The Charlo basketball teams travel to Hot Springs. I know the girls have a strong rivalry with Hot Springs that stems from volleyball which stems from something else I’m sure. Last time the two teams played, the Lady Vikings lost 40-33 but the boys won 46-38

Polson and Ronan meet up on Friday in a huge match. Both teams have won one match against the other and both boast big names like Cheff, Picard, Neiss, Cheff, Feistner, Starkel, Fouty, Conklin, Thomas and Clairmont.
This is the last week of competition before the divisional meets next weekend. Northwest A (Polson and Ronan) will compete in Polson while the B/C divisional (Mission/Charlo and Arlee) is in Deer Lodge.

Reporter Sasha will be taking the reins on this event as I have the weekend off and will be traveling to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for a hockey tournament. Yes, I get the weekend off but that doesn’t mean I won’t be around sports. I’ve passed through Wyoming on my way to play hockey in Colorado as a freshman in college but I was sleeping/not really interested at the time. This time around, I will have time to sightsee and, more importantly, shop.