NSAA's director visits York Optimists

A total of 19 athletic sports and five more non-athletic activities are proving more than enough to keep the Nebraska School Activities Association staff on its toes.
Dr. Jim Tenopir, executive director of the NSAA, talked about a few of the many issues that come before his organization during Monday’s luncheon meeting of the York Optimist Club.
The NSAA, Tenopir said, was originally formed to “provide somewhat of a level playing field” for high school sports in Nebraska. It’s authority to govern, he said, is granted by the member schools themselves.
Was there a need for some rules and regulations? Laughing, Tenopir spoke of how Cambridge beat Omaha Tech for the all-class football state champion many, many years ago. How many? Enough that the Cambridge team was stocked with “boys home from the war,” he said, speaking of World War II.
Now there are age and other eligibility standards that must be met. The NSAA’s charge is to provide “some level of governance for all activities.”
In the modern world that means 19 athletic sports and five more non-athletic activities. Only music, he said, has no state championship.
The state is divided into geographic districts with one board of control member to vote for each one. York’s district is represented by its own superintendent, Terry Kenealy.
Tenopir took the reins in 2001 after a career in education and athletic administration. His early boards, he said, were not much interested in change. That’s no longer the case.
“Our board now is interested in the best interests of the schools and kids they represent,” he said.
Tenopir cited a specific example — one among many of which he’s aware — of a student whose love for athletics, football in this case, motivated the boy to stay in school. Today he is a practicing attorney.
“If they don’t have in mind what’s best for kids athletically and academically, then activities programs are misplaced,” he said. Activities present “kids an opportunity to get that education” even if in some cases “they don’t really want to be there.”
The director said a couple surprises awaited when he took the NSAA’s top job.
“The level of interest in the NSAA” and the “unrealistic focus some people have on high school activities” was one surprise. Another was “the number of threats of litigation and actual cases of litigation. I was somewhat bowled over” by how readily some use the courts trying to have their way. “The number of lawsuits is a big issue,” he said, citing another state where a multi-million dollar judgment has the high school governing body about to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Also, Tenopir said, it’s surprising how he finds himself on a first name basis with state senators, such is the reality of the role politics play in modern activity administration.
Another big issue, he said, is whether home school students are to be allowed to participate in NSAA-sanctioned school activities. At this point, he said, they “cannot participate,” unless minimum classroom standards are met.
Option enrollment, he said, has had a profound influence upon how casually and often families move their students from one district to another.
Option students are eligible for athletics and activities immediately upon starting at their new school ... as long as the move was not for athletic purposes. To no one’s surprise, athletics are not mentioned on anyone’s option enrollment paperwork.
“It’s a tough situation,” said Tenopir. He said when option enrollment first was allowed, 50 requests were made statewide. Now the number of option transfers runs to 1,700 ... per year.
“I guarantee you none of those was for athletics,” he commented with mock sincerity, drawing a roar of laughter.
“I do believe we’ve got a great product,” he said of Nebraska high school athletics and activities, “But we must be cautious because it’s in concert with academics.”
Asked to speak about how a minority of private schools dominates state championships, Tenopir said he has no answer. It’s true, he stated, that private and parochial schools make up just 12 percent of NSAA membership, yet they win 28-30 percent of state championships.
He said many point a finger at parochial schools and cry ‘they’re recruiting,’ however he suggests the pot is ill advised to call the kettle black.
“Since the advent of enrollment option,” he said, “some of our public schools do a much better job of recruiting than our private schools.”
Tenopir said some states have divided their private schools into a separate division where they compete only among themselves. That’s not practical here, however, where just 39 such schools vary in size from massive Creighton Prep to tiny Heartland Lutheran south of Grand Island.
Asked for a report about the third/fourth place games at last year’s state basketball tournaments for boys and girls, Tenopir said, “Class A and B made it known they didn’t want it” from the get-go. As a result, attendance was weak as was enthusiasm from coaches in those two classes. In spite of that, 65-70 percent of girls teams and 70 percent of boys teams have said the consolation games should continue.
They will, however next year the spot will be sweetened with individual medals for those games. Volleyball is set to play consolation round games this coming fall, too.
“Our board felt that was in the best interest of kids,” said Tenopir.
The director said a move last year to two-game sessions for state basketball instead of three was not done for monetary reasons as some have accused. He said gyms at the new high schools in Lincoln simply aren’t as large as the old ones they have replaced. One three-game evening session a year earlier, he said, featured six solid teams. By the time the last game was ready to tip off, Tenopir said 800 people had to be turned away. The NSAA phones and e-mail system lit up like Roman candles after that debacle. This past season’s two-game sessions greatly alleviated what had become a huge problem.
Finally, Tenopir said the NSAA will soon govern middle school activities, too. He said a group is gathering June 4 to begin outlining what form that governance will take. He said, however, that from his view state championships for middle schools will not be part of the plan.
“I don’t believe there is a place for that in middle school activities,” he said, explaining that kids of that age should focus more on participation than competition.
“We’re still a year off before we know that is going to be,” he said of how middle school athletics and activities will be sanctioned.