Prep athletic eligibility guidelines clarified

Spencer Patterson

Friday, June 16, 2000 | 10:11 a.m.

Academic eligibility was the hot topic this week as Nevada high school sports' governing body held its semiannual meetings at Silverado High School.

In the wake of last spring's legal challenge by the Galena High baseball team -- a court action that cost the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association an unexpected $5,000 in legal fees -- the NIAA took steps to clarify its academic guidelines at its Board of Control meetings Wednesday and Thursday.

Beginning next season, all courses taken for high school credit -- including classes taken at vocational schools or colleges -- must be checked in order to maintain athletic eligibility.

Also, the NIAA determined that the first three-week grade check will be conducted by each school following the first official date on which contests can be scheduled.

In Galena's situation, the athlete who was initially declared ineligible was failing classes at a nearby vocational school. The Reno-area school also asserted that it was unclear whether grade checks should have been made during preseason tryouts and practices.

"In any type of a rule structure, you write the rules thinking you have clarification, but until a certain circumstance happens, you never know what can happen," said Larry McKay, Clark County athletic director and vice president of the NIAA Board of Control.

"I think this will help people to understand the rules, and anything we can do to help them is a step in the right direction," McKay said.

The NIAA also made changes to its tiebreaking procedure, doing away with margin of victory as a method of breaking ties between two teams. Starting next year, teams' comparative records against division foes -- starting at the top and working down -- will be used to break ties.

That switch was made to alleviate problems that arose during the 1999-2000 basketball season, when coaches were playing to cover particular point spreads rather than to win games in an effort to make the playoffs or earn a specific postseason seed.

"We don't want people manipulating the point spread of a game to get a better seed," McKay said. "Teams were trying not to win games so they wouldn't go into overtime and lose by more points, which could knock them out."

Also, for the first time in 11 years, the NIAA voted to increase ticket prices to prep events. Prices will go up by $1 next year, meaning it will now cost $4 for students and $6 for adults to attend selected high school sporting events.