Board Briefs: April 24, 2024

BOONE, Iowa – The Iowa High School Athletic Association’s Board of Control held its regular meeting on Wednesday, April 24, reviewing spring reports and approving several recommendations ahead of the 2024-25 school year.

Past editions of Board Briefs are available through News page and via the “Board Meeting Briefs” tag. Approved minutes from past Board of Control meetings are available through the Board & Reps page and directly through the Meeting Minutes page.

BEDS: Enrollments from 2023-24 approved for 2024-25 classifications

Enrollment data from the Basic Educational Data Survey (BEDS) has been finalized by the Iowa Department of Education and approved by the Board of Control. The member school enrollments from this school year are used for classifications in the 2024-25 year.

BEDS numbers reflects a member school’s quantity of enrolled students in grades 9, 10, and 11 in a given school year.  For 2024-25 sport classifications, ties in enrollment number puts the team first alphabetically in the larger class.

Visit the Classifications page to view more or click on toggle below to open sortable table.

Calendar: Unified approved for 2024-25

IHSAA partners with the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, the Iowa High School Music Association, and the Iowa High School Speech Association to form the Unified Activities Federation for Iowa interscholastic activities. Each year, each organization’s representatives and boards submit and approve a calendar to work jointly.

The 2024-25 calendar was approved Wednesday by the Board of Control.

Visit the Unified Calendar page to view more or click on toggle below to open sortable table.

Health & Safety: Wet Bulb Globe Temperature adopted for 2024-25

IHSAA will shift heat-related guidance standards from Heat Index to Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) for the 2024-25 school year. NFHS and numerous

Per NFHS: “The WBGT device takes into account ambient temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle, direct sunlight and cloud cover. WBGT provides vital information for schools to use in helping school administration to determine if conditions are appropriate to hold activity programs during hot weather.”

In 2021-22, IHSAA previously distributed 100 complimentary WBGT devices to member schools via an NFHS Foundation grant. Further guidance will be shared with member schools and through sport administrators prior to fall sport seasons.

Soccer: Ejection reports reviewed

As a regular item within the Director of Officials report, the Board of Control reviewed ejections in spring sports, with soccer featuring 81 ejections through April 23 across the varsity, sub-varsity, and junior high levels. Varsity boys’ soccer has accounted for 65 of those ejections, only two of which were handballs. 

The 2023 soccer season featured 106 total ejections, which included 10 handballs. The first playing date of the 2024 soccer season was Monday, March 25. The postseason begins May 13 (2A, 1A) and May 14 (4A, 3A) and concludes June 1. 

“Topping 80 ejections in the first month of the season is extremely concerning,” IHSAA executive director Tom Keating said. “It will take a statewide effort of players, coaches, officials, and administrators to restore an acceptable level of sportsmanship to soccer this spring.” 

Per the IHSAA’s soccer manual, any team receiving four varsity red cards — players or coaches — is not permitted to participate in the postseason.