Board Briefs: August 12, 2024

BOONE, Iowa – The Iowa High School Athletic Association’s Board of Control met during its annual retreat on Friday and Saturday, August 9-10, to review 2023-24 reports and approve items 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.

IHSAA & IGHSAU to separate golf, tennis seasons starting in 2025-26

The Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union have collaborated to reduce spring schedule congestion by moving boys’ golf and girls’ tennis to the fall sport seasons starting in the 2025-26 school year.

The changes address decades-long concerns from member schools over scheduling and were approved by both the IHSAA’s board and IGHSAU’s board following discussions at a joint meeting in early July. 

“Our member schools have been asking for ways to relieve the crowded spring sports seasons for years” IGHSAU executive director Erin Gerlich said. “The new changes provide relief in an already busy spring, and an opportunity for the IGHSAU and IHSAA to enhance the state tournament experiences for tennis and golf. 

“A lot of work has gone into this process and we appreciate all of the input we have received regarding these changes.”

Iowa’s current spring schedule includes eight sports – golf, soccer, tennis, track and field for both boys and girls – and overlaps seasonally with baseball and softball.

The adjustment was discussed across 2023-24 district meetings, the IHSADA state conference, advisory committees, and the 2023 IHSAA membership survey.

“Reducing the congestion in the spring schedule has been a topic of conversation among ADs, our staffs, representative councils, boards, and the joint IHSAA & IGHSAU committee for several years,” IHSAA executive director Tom Keating said. 

“Moving our Class 3A, 2A, and 1A golf competitions to the fall to align with Class 4A is a step toward easing that congestion.” 

Among nine other peer state associations in the Midwest, seven separate golf seasons by gender and all nine separate tennis seasons. The increased availability of facilities, coaching, and school resources, plus the reduction of scheduling conflicts are the top cited reasons for those successful season separations. 

“Other Midwest states have found success with this model and I am confident our schools will adjust to the new format,” said Keating, who served as president of the NFHS in 2023-24. “While we recognize some of the initial challenges, the advantages of reducing scheduling congestion in the spring, reducing lost class time, and giving the option of having the same coach for spring and fall combine to lead us in this direction. 

“For boys’ golf, fall should provide good course and playing conditions, and the high school season will immediately follow summer, when most golfers have enjoyed the opportunity to work on their game.”

In 2025, boys’ golf (3A, 2A, 1A) and girls’ tennis (2A, 1A) will compete in both the 2024-25 spring season and the 2025-26 fall season. Class 4A boys’ golf has competed exclusively in the fall since 1993 and features the earliest competition start date of any fall sport. 

Updated dates for the 2025-26 calendar will be provided as they become available.

Sport season breakdowns for 2024-25 and 2025-26 are available in the tables below. 

2024-25 Sport Seasons

2025-26 Sport Seasons

Advisory Updates

Items approved or discussed by the Board of Control out of the IHSAA’s advisory committees…

Basketball: In an adoption from an NFHS rule for states using shot clocks, the closely guarded “five seconds” rule will be eliminated starting in 2024-25. Following previous board discussion and basketball advisory committee recommendation, substate final games in Class 4A and Class 3A will be hosted by the higher-seeded team.

Bowling: Among several advisory updates approved following this summer’s joint IHSAA/IGHSAU board meeting, was the exploration of a split season for boys’ and girls’ bowling to start in 2025-26. This concept would potentially end the current coed championships format and allow for staggered start and finish within the current 16-week schedule. The individual tournament will now also bowl out to eighth place, similar to the team tournament.

Golf: Three teams will advance from each round of the postseason to the next in 3A, 2A, and 1A golf, with no regard for home course in qualification. This will ensure a set number of qualifiers at district meets and 12 qualifiers at the state meet for those classes.

Tennis: A consistent scoring format is coming to the postseason, with both singles & doubles and the team tournaments now featuring ad scoring, best two out of three sets, with a 10-point super tiebreaker instead of a complete third set. All consolation rounds and the coed state tournament will remain no-ad scoring. UTR will become a required statistical entry point for Class 2A and team entry location for Class 1A in 2025.

Sports Medicine: Working with IGHSAU, IHSMA, IHSSA, and qualified representatives of the athletic training and medical community, the IHSAA has helped launch a Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) to better serve the health and safety considerations of Iowa’s high school activities. The SMAC was formally approved as a new advisory committee of the IHSAA.