11/09/17- Bylaw 9 Rulings

November 9, 2017 2017-2018 News Releases

Recently, the ruling officer for Bylaw 9 handed down sanctions to student-athletes from Lafayette, Frederick Douglass, Scott County, Montgomery County and South Laurel after school administrators proactively self-reported violations to the Association. The violations centered around an organized basketball contest involving students in member schools after the start of school but prior to the first day of allowable practice.

The KHSAA enforces the rules its membership approves, and though the event in question resulted in a minimal penalty (a one-game suspension) for the participating student-athletes, the Bylaw 9 violation is hardly unique to this specific event. Several other events in various parts of the state resulted in similar sanctions as required by the rule. Despite the constant education efforts of Association staff, this situation could have easily been avoided had adjustments been made to the event’s format, setup and participant composition. The rule is well known to the athletes, member school coaches, member school athletic administrators, and all involved with the membership of the KHSAA.

“This is by no means a new rule, and our membership on several occasions has declined to make substantial changes to this bylaw,” said KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett. “The rule has long served to help student-athletes pulled in multiple directions by our two most popular sports in terms of participation, football, and boys’ basketball, as well as girls’ basketball and fall sports offerings. In recent years, the staff has initiated changes that have been approved by the membership to ensure that the rule didn’t inappropriately inhibit students from participating in single day activities that may assist in the student having opportunities to play beyond high school. But the membership, and in particular its basketball coaches, have long supported the rule as a deterrent to outside influences on school-based sport.”

-KHSAA-

The KHSAA staff routinely publishes blog posts to better communicate with its various constituencies and the public. The blogs for specific sports and sport-activities are on that sport or sport-activity main page, and there are general information blogs at http://khsaa.org/news-stats-pubs/sports-blogs/