| LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE IN NSAA RULES AND REGULATIONS | ||||
| Title: | Dual Participation in Bowling | |||
| Author: | Mike Greene-Walsh | |||
| School: | Omaha South | |||
| NSAA District: | 2 | |||
| Proposal for: | Constitution & Bylaws | |||
| Classes Affected: | All | |||
| Activities Affected: | Boys Bowling Girls Bowling | |||
| This proposal: | WILL NOT increase costs to the school WILL NOT increase costs to the NSAA WILL NOT increase travel for participating schools WILL NOT decrease a student's or coach's instruction time | |||
| Implementation date: | 2024-08-01 | |||
| Sections affected in Constitution & Bylaws: | Page 50 | Article 3.5 | Section 1.1 | |
| Summary: | CURRENT: Any student who participates in any bowling event (individual league and/or tournament) other than one as a representative of his/her high school during the NSAA Bowling season becomes ineligible to represent his/her school in the sport of Bowling for one or more contests or the remainder of the season.
CHANGE: Add new subpoint to 3.5.1 to allow Bowling to be exempt of Dual Participation penalty during the season of the sport Bowling Outside Participation. During the school sport season of bowling, a student may, after fulfilling all requirements, practices and competitions of the school bowling team, practice and/or compete as a member of a non-school bowling team or as an individual participant in an organized non-school bowling practice or competition under the conditions listed below. a. Priority shall be given to all school team practices and competitions. Should a non-school practice/competition be in direct conflict with the school scheduled practice/competition, the school practice/competition shall take priority. Prior approval by the school administrator may grant an exception to a student to participate in the non-school swimming and diving program if in direct conflict with the school program. b. No school time shall be missed to compete, practice or travel to the site of such non-school bowling competition unless the absence is approved in advance by the school administrator. c. A school shall not replace its bowling program with any non-school bowling program. | |||
| Rationale: | Under the current NSAA rules, high school bowlers must make a choice to represent and compete for their high school in the sport of bowling or to compete as an individual in any local, regional, or national tournament for SMART scholarship points, as well as the bowler's youth league(s).
Every year more student-athlete bowlers are choosing not to bowl for their high school to participate in these individual tournaments and leagues. Some student-athlete bowlers are also choosing to attend high schools outside of the state of Nebraska where that state's high school athletic association permits dual participation. The current participation rule as written is creating a drain in competition in this emerging NSAA varsity sport. A change to this participation rule will equate participation in the sport of Bowling and the sport of Swimming. Both sports will have identical participation requirements prioritizing the high school team's schedule over outside individual events during the NSAA Bowling Season. This prioritization makes the high school team and events the primary program of sport over individual tournaments and leagues during the high school season. In the event that a student-athlete has a high school bowling event (dual, triangular or quad meet or tournament) on the same day and in the same bowling facility as the individual league or tournament, the student-athlete must bowl in the high school bowling event first that day as to not create an unfair advantage to other participants in that scholastic event. | |||
| Pros: | In-season dual participation will bring more student-athletes into high school bowling that would normally participate in individual leagues and/or tournaments.
In-season dual participation allows the student/athlete to build friendships with other youth and high school bowlers in the community. In-season dual participation teaches student-athletes the benefits of competition beyond the high school setting. In-season dual participation allows the student/athlete to practice technique instruction learned from their high school coaches in a competitive league and tournament setting. In-season dual participation allows the student/athlete to gain technique suggestions from other youth and high school bowlers. In-season dual participation allows the student/athlete to gain technique instruction from other coaches that teach in the youth bowling league setting. In-season dual participation allows the student/athlete to gain experience with challenging lane patterns not seen until the District and State competitions. In-season dual participation gives the student-athlete the opportunity to compete and learn in challenging venues and conditions that would not normally be available in a high school bowling competition. In-season dual participation gives the student-athlete added exposure to college programs and coaches by participating in outside tournaments. The school is not responsible for any outside expenses accrued by the student-athlete while participating in events outside of the school sponsored activity. | |||
| Cons: | Student-athletes may compete in the same venue twice in one day: i.e., individual league or tournament in the morning and a high school competition in the afternoon (This con would be negated by prioritizing that the student-athlete must bowl in the high school bowling event first that day in the same bowling center as stated above.). | |||