09/13/23 – Board of Control Approves Distribution of Bylaw 9 Referendum, Adjusts Swimming & Diving Starting Date

September 13, 2023 2023-2024 News Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEPT. 13, 2023

The KHSAA Board of Control conducted its second regularly scheduled meeting of the 2023-24 academic year on Wednesday in Lexington, approving the distribution of a member school referendum regarding Bylaw 9, an adjustment of the starting date for the swimming & diving season and an implementation plan for the KHSAA Swimming & Diving State Championship First Rounds, as well as the distribution of a member school survey regarding girls’ wrestling weight classes and a timetable for implementing the details of the inaugural KHSAA Indoor Track & Field State Championships.

The Board’s approval to distribute a referendum regarding Bylaw 9 paves the way for distribution to member schools following the 2023-24 KHSAA Annual Meeting in Lexington on Sept. 14. The referendum will include the yes/no option of removing Section 1(a) from the Bylaw, which restricts basketball players who have been in grade nine(9) and then played a contest for the school at any level from playing in an organized contest from the start of school to the start of practice. If passed by the membership and approved through the various additional approval steps, the restrictions would remain in place from the start of practice through the end of the season but no longer apply in pre-season.

“At our recent series of regional meetings, we spent a great deal of time discussing Bylaw 9, even with our amendment from last year,” said KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett. “As we gathered feedback, we feel it is important to see where our members stand on this rule, which in fact, applies only to basketball players prior to the start of practice and not to any other team sport.”

With respect to the recently approved Swimming & Diving State Championship First Round, the Board approved the adjustment of the sport’s start date by one week to the Monday of corresponding week 19 (Nov. 6). For the 2023-24 postseason, region competition will be held Feb. 9-10 (with the freedom to compete on earlier dates by region agreement due to potential facility challenges), state first round competition will be held Feb. 16-17 and state finals will be held Feb. 23-24. This year’s three state first round meets will combine regions 1-3, 4-6 and 7-9 as groupings.

A survey allowing one vote per school from the Bylaw 1 designated representative of each school will be distributed to member schools to include questions regarding girls’ wrestling weight classes as discussed in the regional meetings.

“Our member schools have expressed concerns about the adoption of the weight classes for girls that were adopted by the NFHS, particularly when the tournament formerly run by our coaches association used the higher limited girls’ weight classes,” Tackett said. “It is important that our members weigh in as we execute a girls’ wrestling championship for the first time.”

Starting with this year’s inaugural event, the standard date for the Indoor Track & Field State Championships will be the Saturday of basketball district tournament play as previously approved. With at-large standards as the only viable solution for state qualification, the Association will complete its data gathering and have information for formal adoption at the regularly scheduled November Board meeting.

Additionally, the Board reviewed and accepted the following reports:

• Individual sport and sport-activity reports and non-sport-related reports from staff;
• An officials licensing comparison and ArbiterSports update;
• A disqualification report and comparison;
• A transfer and appeals eligibility report;
• A status of regulations promulgation and legislative discussions;
• A status report of the annual Bylaw 11 financial aid required reports;
• A status report of participation lists, Title IX reports and prime date penalties;
• A status report on Bowling Green in compliance with the June 2022 agreed order;
• A review of fall membership meetings;
• A review of corporate sponsor finance reports;
• A status report of the KHSAA Hall of Fame Screening Committee; and
• Information from around the state and nation.

– KHSAA –

About the Kentucky High School Athletic Association

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association was organized in 1917 and is the agency designated by the Kentucky Department of Education to manage high school athletics in the Commonwealth. The Association is a voluntary nonprofit 501(c)3 organization made up of 290 member schools, both public and non-public. The KHSAA awards 229 state championships to 59 teams and 178 individuals in 13 sports and six sport-activities, funds catastrophic insurance coverage for its more than 109,000 rostered member school student-athletes, provides coaching education and sports safety programs for more than 12,000 coaches and licenses and facilitates the distribution of training material for over 4,000 contest officials.