The Communique - September 2004

Highlights from the September16, 2004, OHSAA Board of Control Meeting

The OHSAA Board of Control held its regularly scheduled meeting on September 16, 2004. The following business was conducted:

Ť The Board was provided with the financial reports from the 2004 regional and state baseball tournaments; the regional and state fast pitch softball tournaments, and the boys state tennis tournaments. The regional and state baseball tournaments had a profit of $10,533.25; the regional and state fast pitch softball tournaments had a profit of $4,910.02, and the boys state tennis tournaments had a deficit of $7,592.33.

Ť The Board was informed that a District Athletic Board special election will be held October 4 through 8, 2004, to fill an unexpired Class AA term in the Northwest District (expires July 31, 2007). Larry Long resigned as the superintendent of the Berlin-Milan Local Schools in Milan. Principals from the Northwest District will elect the representative.

Ť The Board heard proposals from state coaches association representatives in the sports of fast pitch softball and boys and girls track & field. The fast pitch softball coaches proposed that games should end anytime after five innings when a team is 10 or more runs behind and has completed its term at bat. The current rule is 15 or more runs behind. The track coaches proposed that the OHSAA not schedule Divisions II and III regional tournaments on the same day, and that the boys 4x200 meter relay be added to slate of events at the middle school level. The Board will act on the recommendations at its December meeting.

Ť The Board approved a recommendation to permit Commissioner Ross to execute a contract with 20-20 Photographic to provide state tournament photography services for the Association for the 2004-05 academic year.

Ť The Board approved a recommendation to permit Commissioner Ross to execute a contract with Waste Management to provide funds to support the OHSAA’s sportsmanship program for the next four years.

Ť The Board approved a recommendation to raise the fees that are paid to OHSAA state rules interpreters from $80 per meeting to $100 per meeting.

Ť The Board approved an application for membership from the International Preparatory School in Cleveland.

Ť The Board approved a request from the East District Athletic Board to begin one of its sectional soccer tournaments on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2004, rather than on the usual starting date of Monday, Oct. 18, 2004, and a request from the Southwest District Athletic Board to begin one of its sectional boys basketball tournaments on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2005, rather than on the usual starting date of Monday, Feb. 14, 2005.

Ť The Board denied an appeal by Ray Winkelstine, Doylestown, re: his son, Doylestown Chippewa High School (Bylaw 4-3-4, Eight Semesters). An appeal was also denied for Joe Salem, Copley, re: his son, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School (Bylaw 4-3-4, Eight Semesters) in a telephone conference call Sept. 21 after his appeal was tabled at the Sept. 16 meeting.

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Student Leadership Conferences Upcoming

The four OHSAA Foundation-sponsored student leadership conferences will be held in October, and reservations are filling up quickly. The conferences will be held Oct. 19 in Canton; Oct. 20 in Worthington; Oct. 26 in Perrysburg; and Oct. 27 in Chillicothe. There is no charge to attend. Registration materials were mailed to the membership. For more information, visit the OHSAA web site (www.ohsaa.org).

OHSAA, Waste Management To Provide Sportsmanship Resources

The OHSAA has entered into a sponsorship agreement with Waste Management to provide funds to support the Association’s sportsmanship program. Among the additional sportsmanship resources that will soon be provided to the membership are the distribution of sportsmanship signs that can be hung at entrances to outdoor and indoor facilities; audio sportsmanship messages — recorded by prominent Ohio sports personalities — that can be played prior to athletic contests; sportsmanship posters that can be hung in high traffic areas of the school, and camera-ready sportsmanship messages that can be printed in school souvenir programs.

Voting to Take Place On OHSAA Referendum Issues

Principals or their official designees should receive ballots soon for voting on the 2004 OHSAA referendum issues. Ballots are due back to the OHSAA by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 15. If principals have an appointed designee, the designee only must sign the ballot for it to be valid. Results will be posted on the OHSAA web site by the end of the day on Monday, Oct. 18.

Upcoming OHSAA Calendar

Oct. 10-12        OIAAA Fall Conference, Columbus
Oct. 14             Board of Control Meeting, OHSAA Office
Oct. 15-16         Boys Div. II & III State Golf Tournaments,
                         Columbus
Oct. 17-19         OASSA Fall Conference, Columbus
Oct. 22-23         Boys and Girls Div. I State Golf Trnts. and Girls
                         State Tennis Trnts., Columbus

Sportsmanship Ideas That Work

The following are ideas you may want to consider for promoting good sportsmanship at your school. The ideas came from schools that were recipients of the 2003-04 OHSAA Harold A. Meyer Sportsmanship Award.

• Include sportsmanship pledges in student-athlete handbooks
and encourage all student-athletes to sign them.

• Rural schools partner with urban schools, and vice versa, to promote racial diversity. Schedule each other in contests; provide welcome signs when the other school attends your school for the contest; conduct a meal for student-athletes, cheerleaders, band members, coaches and administrators from both schools before or after a contest, and have speakers address the students on diversity.

• Conduct a sportsmanship pep rally at your school in which
speakers address students on sportsmanship.

•     Conduct a sportsmanship poster contest for elementary
      school students and honor the winners at a high school
      sporting event.

• Develop a program where high school students speak on
sportsmanship to elementary and middle school groups.

• Develop sportsmanship awards that can be worn on a
letter jacket.

• Develop a sportsmanship evaluation form that officials can
fill out.

Position Statement on the Use of Automated External Defibrillators In Interscholastic Athletics

At its Sept. 16 meeting, the OHSAA Board of Control adopted the following position statement on the use of automated external defribrillators (AEDs) in the school setting. The position statement was approved by the Joint Advisory Committee on Sports Medicine (JACSM) of the Ohio State Medical Association, which is a collaborative effort of five professional organizations concerned about sports medicine and the interscholastic athlete in Ohio.

The objective of this position statement is to provide physicians, coaches, and administrators who serve the member schools of the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) with guidelines concerning Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) and their possible benefit and use in the school setting based on current medical evidence and research. This position statement is not intended as a proposed standard of care and should not be interpreted as such. Rather, it only describes reasonable practice for the school. Individual treatment decisions will turn on the facts and circumstances presented to the emergency responders at the time of an event.

An AED is a medical device that can recognize the presence or absence of ventricular fibrillation or tachycardia and determine whether defibrillation should be performed and delivers a shock through electrodes attached to the victim's chest. Throughout the process, voice and screen prompts guide the rescuer. No shock is recommended or delivered for other types of cardiac arrhythmia. The AED is designed to be used by non-medical personnel with little or no training, although a four-hour program coupled with basic life support training is recommended.

In the United States, 220,000 people (nearly all adults with coronary artery disease) die from sudden cardiac arrest each year. Before complete arrest, the heart often develops ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia, irregular heart rhythms in which the heart muscle contractions are disorganized and the effective pumping of blood ceases. Defibrillation is the delivery of an electrical impulse to the heart that allows it to return to a normal coordinated rhythm, and is the most effective treatment for ventricular fibrillation or tachycardia in adults. The sooner defibrillation is provided via an AED, the better the victim’s chance of survival. When provided within the first five minutes of a cardiac arrest, the odds are about 50 percent that the victim's life will be saved. With each passing minute, the chance of successful resuscitation is reduced by 7-to-10 percent. After 10 minutes, there is very little chance of success.

Sudden cardiac death is a rare event in school-age youth and children. It is estimated that sudden death occurs in one out of every 200,000 high school athletes each year for a total of about 100 events per year. Ninety percent of the victims are male and 70 percent come from football and basketball. Ninety-seven percent of victims have structural abnormalities. The most common causes associated with sudden death are hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, anomalous coronary arteries and left ventricular hypertrophy. The best and most practical cardiac screening method is the medical history, but even a thorough history will detect only 18-to-50 percent of athletes at at risk. Screening by ECG or echocardiogram may increase sensitivity by a small amount, but the logistical and economic factors involved make these unlikely solutions.

Because of the rare occurrence of cardiac arrest in youth, ages under 18, no studies are available demonstrating the effectiveness of AEDs in this population. However, they have been shown to be safe and possibly effective for individuals eight years of age or older, and the FDA has approved a number of AEDs for this age group. These devices have been shown to accurately detect “shockable” and “non-shockable” rhythms in children. Research has also shown that 19 percent of pediatric cardiac arrests present with ventricular fibrillation.

The JACSM believes:

It is essential:

That individuals responsible for overseeing or managing an event be able to provide (themselves or others) basic life support and be able to contact and initiate the EMS system in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest.

That each school establishes an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) regarding decisions for the medical care of its athletes (refer to national guidelines provided by the National Federation of State High School Associations) and that it have as one of its specific goals a response plan that targets a victim’s collapse to defibrillation time as five minutes or less.

The JACSM also believes:

Because the incidence of sudden death in individuals under 18, it is unlikely that a given school district will ever use an AED for a student, and there is insufficient medical evidence to recommend AED availability and use. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to consider AEDs for school-age individuals to be an unjustified expense and a luxury at this time. However, it is highly likely that at some time an adult attending an athletic or other school sponsored event will experience sudden death, and therefore:

It may be desirable:

To provide AEDs at event sites.

That the EAP should have as its specific goal a response plan (when this is practical) that includes a communication system and a mechanism for transporting an AED and a trained operator to the site of an emergency.

That all personnel responsible at a school-sponsored athletic event or practice are trained in basic life support, First Aid and CPR. Note: By law, all interscholastic coaches, paid and volunteer, in the state of Ohio must have current C.P.R. certification and possess the Pupil Activity Supervisor Validation, indicative of four hours of sports first aid training.

At activities in which students are spread out over long distances, such as golf events, cross country, etc., the JACSM recognizes that logistics make the above recommendations impractical.

The Communique´