IHSA

IHSA Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes - 2007-08

SPORTS MEDICINE Advisory Committee

November 14 , 2007

Minutes of the 2007-08 IHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee Meeting

The IHSA Sports Medicine Advisory meeting at the IHSA office in Bloomington, Illinois, on Wednesday, November 14, 2007, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Committee members present were Gregory Gaa, Dr. James Green, Dr. Richard Everett, John Wator, and. Phil Morrison. Members not attending: Senator John Davidson, Dr. Cynthia LaBella, Dr. Preston Wollin, and Dr. William Marcuzzo. Assistant Executive Director Kurt Gibson was also in attendance.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BOARD ACTION

The committee recommends the Position Statement regarding guidelines for return to activity be used in all IHSA Sport-specific Manuals for member schools.

RATIONALE: The committee believes this is a necessary step to assist coaches in maintaining the health of their athletes. The guidelines expressed in this statement are not intended to serve as any kind of standard of care; rather, they are provided to offer practical assistance to coaches who may not have the luxury of a trainer or some other medical personnel at a particular contest. Placing this statement in IHSA Sport-specific Manuals would make the information available to schools, who could then work with their coaching staffs appropriately.

Approved the Recommendation to include the Position Statement regarding guidelines for return to activity being included in all IHSA sport-specific Manuals for member schools.

Items of Discussion

1. The committee discussed the current status of the drug testing proposal being considered by the membership. The committee discussed a series of possible educational pieces that could be developed and shared with member schools should the IHSA Board of Directors decide to move forward with a testing program. Of particular interest to the committee is an expanded presentation on proper nutrition for student-athletes.

2. The committee discussed the summer participation by-law, boys’ football season limitation by-law, and the Football Policy in the IHSA Handbook and their application in regards to player acclimatization in the summer and fall. The committee expressed some concern that the current ‘dead period’ between the end of the summer contact period and the start of the football season may impact what conditioning levels players had reached during the summer. They also expressed some support for working with the Board to consider a by-law proposal that would also call for a period at the start of the summer contact period where a school would only allow football players to be in helmets and football shoes before being allowed to get into pads. The committee also expressed some possible interest in looking at pre-season practice models used in other states in regards to the acclimatization they allow athletes to experience.

3. The committee discussed the enforcement of NFHS Football rule 9-8-3, which limits the number of individuals who can occupy the coaches box. The committee discussed situations where trainers have been warned for consulting with coaches regarding injured players.

4. The committee discussed types of information to make available to schools and officials regarding skin infections. As MRSA cases crop up around the country, the committee wishes to keep member schools abreast of currently-accepted practices to maintain athlete and facility safety. The committee will explore ways to reach out to member schools to keep them apprised of current trends and developments.

5. The committee discussed developing an observer’s program that could be used during the IHSA Football Play-offs, a program aimed at validating the injury report results being submitted by member schools. The committee had discussed this at their April 2007, but took no action on the matter. The committee will work on formulating a specific plan for such a program to review at their next meeting before deciding whether or not to pursue such a program with the IHSA Board.

6. The committee heard a report of on-going sports medicine issues at the NFHS.