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MONTGOMERY, AL –The Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) Central Board of Control approved and the Legislative Council ratified six legislative proposals submitted by member schools Wednesday at the 2021 Spring Legislative Council meeting held at the Cramton Bowl MultiPlex. All legislative proposals that passed will go into effect next school year except for one, which will begin in 2022-23.
   Among the proposals passed by the 32-member council was the elimination of the long-time 50% rule, which limited participation outside the sports season during the school year to just 50% of the number it takes to field a team in that sport.
    “This was a landmark decision that eliminates a rule that has been in effect for as long as I can remember,” said AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese. “This will have an immediate impact on all our member school student-athletes. The Legislative Council followed the vote of their districts, which is a great example of how our democratic process works.”
    In a survey of member schools in February, 69% of the schools participating approved the change. It takes two-thirds of the Legislative Council vote to ratify a proposal. The current 50% rule was not in effect in the summer and did not apply to middle school student-athletes.
   That proposal was No. 18 on the list of 19 submitted by member schools this year.
    Other proposals ratified were:
PROPOSAL No. 1: Rule 3, Section 15 was amended to remove a note that prohibited a coach from working with an in-season athlete for an out-of-season sport.
PROPOSAL No. 3: Amended Rule 1, Section 6 to state: “Members of any school team may receive private individual instruction in a group setting ONLY with members from their school or feeder school.
PROPOSAL No. 12: In the sport of football, if the visiting school forfeits in year one of a two-year contract period, the school that forfeited should travel in year two. The money from ticket sales during year two should then be split between the two schools.
PROPOSAL No. 14: Allows football teams to participate in one preseason jamboree one week prior to a team’s first varsity contest regardless of whether a team’s season begins Week Zero or Week 1.
PROPOSAL No. 19: Allows spring sports to begin practice on Martin Luther King Day each January, beginning in the 2022-2023 school year.

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Ronald Wallace

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