WIAA board approves track and field rules, non-school competition accommodations

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Control approved two track and field coaches’ recommendations and provided flexibility for non-school competitions during the spring and alternate fall seasons in 2020-21 only at its October meeting Friday.

The board supported adding language to the state association recommendations section of the track and field season regulations that reads in part “…for relay exchanges that do not occur in assigned lanes…the line-up position is determined and maintained when the incoming runners reach the straightaway before the exchange.”

The other track and field recommendation approved by the board extends the sunset clause – approved by the board in 2017 – for determining divisional placements. This will allow for the required second year of data collection, which was unable to be compiled because of the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The board’s decision to provide COVID-19 pandemic accommodations for non-school competitions and to allow those events during the WIAA culminating events for 2020-21 on a sport-specific basis. The existing rule allows student-athletes in all sports to play in two non-school events.

Boys soccer, boys volleyball and girls volleyball teams during the alternate fall season in the spring will be allowed a total of four non-school events to be played during either the regular season or during the WIAA culminating events. Baseball and softball teams in the spring will be allowed a total of three non-school events to be played during either the regular season or WIAA culminating events. Girls soccer teams will be permitted to play their two allowed non-school events during either the regular season or culminating events.

The board also ratified a culminating event attendance policy (https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Health/Covid/CulminatingAttendanceP...) for culminating events that is being shared with the membership. The board also approved the winter sports guidelines (https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Health/Covid/WIAA-Winter-Sport-Guid...) for conducting interscholastic activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was shared with the membership Friday.

Other discussions included continuation of the fall season culminating events, a review of the 2020 postponed constitutional amendments and the potential new amendments for the 2021 annual meeting, a membership request to revisit a competition committee, a review of the virtual area meetings, and a review of the preliminary audit report.

The board received liaison reports from John Ashley of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, and Nathan DeLany of the Wisconsin Athletic Directors Association.