other ND HSAA issues

here's a few tidbits that flew under the radar, shielded by the 3 class basketball straw vote:

Amendments win approval

Two proposed bylaw amendments submitted by the board of directors garnered general assembly approval by sizeable margins.

The first, which passed 130-0, changed the wording in a provision dealing with all-star contests. Revised wording says an all-star team "includes, but is not limited to, the Shrine All-Star Football Team, the Lions All-Star BasketballTeams, and the Optimists All-Star Volleyball Teams.

Sylling said the new wording would not cause a conflict with the Chicago Showcase hockey tournament.

Also approved was an amendment to a provision that deals with penalties for the use of ineligible players. Primarily, the amendment was proposed to allow the board to deal with team sports and individual sports separately. Individual sports were not specifically addressed in the previous wording.

The amendment, approved 126-3, says the use of an ineligible participant "shall require the offending school to forfeit the matches won and/or the points earned by the ineligible participant or by a relay team of which he/she was a member."

Three elected to board

The election of RickJacobson, Steve Swiontek and Pete Moe to the board of directors was reported by the canvassing committee.

Jacobson, the superintendent at Wyndmere, will replace Brian Duchscherer as the southeast Class Brepresentative. Swiontek, the Devils Lake superintendent, will take the place of KimKnodle as the Class Aat-large representative . Moe, Washburn's athletic director, will represent the athletic administrators, replacing Jungling. The newly-elected board members begin their four-year terms on July 1.

Uniformity issues

NDHSAAexecutive secretary Sherm Sylling concluded the meeting with a warning to schools about illegal basketball uniforms.

With tournament time just ahead, Sylling said there are some potential problems looming that could require "some difficult calls to make."

Dave Carlsrud, NDHSAAassistant secretary, said the problem usually involves excessive trim on the uniforms.

Schools ordering uniforms from catalogs proceed under the assumption that the garments meet National Federation specifications. That's a dangerous assumption, according to Carlsrud.

"They told us at a rules meeting that about 30 percent of high school uniforms are illegal (nationwide),"Carlsrud said.

Noncompliance is more than just a housekeeping matter. It's addressed in the rulebook.

"The penalty for illegal uniforms is a technical foul for each player who enters the game," Carlsrud said.