UIL rejects proposal to prevent freshmen from being on varsity; no decision on shot clock or moving soccer to spring
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The University Interscholastic League Legislative Council met Tuesday, with a few important proposed rule changes to make decisions on. Among the proposed rule changes were some big ones that fans of high school sports were probably keeping an eye on, including a rule to prevent freshmen from playing on varsity, as well as adding a shot clock to basketball and moving soccer from the spring, to the fall.
Proposal to prohibit freshmen athletes from participating in varsity competitions
The committee ultimately passed on the proposal to ban freshmen from participating in varsity sports, allowing smaller schools to breath a sigh of relief. In some instances, smaller schools rely on freshman to even be able to field a team, much less to help them be as competitive as possible.
Six of the seven schools in Hopkins County are currently in the 2A classification or lower, with Sulphur Springs, who recently dropped from 5A to 4A, being the one exception. Especially when it comes to sports like football, a lot of schools have enough players to field a varsity team, but not enough for both a varsity and a junior varsity.
“If the decision is ever made to not allow freshman to participate it would kill 1A athletics,” Gary Billingsly, said. Billingsley, the former and long time athletic director at Miller Grove, added, “I would bet that at least 25% of the 1A schools in the state use freshman to just make a team, much less the huge impact freshman make in 1A at the state level.”
The proposal was submitted by the public and few people feared the proposal would actually be passed. The proposal was not only shot down, but members of the board also went on to speak out against it after the fact.
Proposal to add a shot clock
One of the other notable proposals that was discussed was a proposal to add a shot clock to high school basketball. The UIL chose to take no action on the matter, leaving it open to be revisited at a later time.
Some states, who use the National Federation rules, have already adopted this, implementing a 35-second shot clock. The rule will go into play starting this season, giving the UIL a chance to watch from afar and see how the rule changes the game.
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One possible benefit from a change would be the pace of play, preventing teams from using a stall approach, keeping the ball out of their opponents hands for as long as possible. On the other hand, it could be tough on teams who aren’t playing at a super high level, forcing them to play out of their comfort zone and rushing players who might not have the skill set to play at that high of a pace.
“I think a shot clock is a good thing for high school basketball. A shot clock is used all over the world in the high school game so why not in the US?” Billingsley said. “To be honest, most high school teams shoot the ball within the first 30 seconds of the possession anyway.”
“I think what it will really do is help good defensive teams, because when the shot clock gets under 5, now the offense is limited,” Billingsley, who was the head basketball coach at Miller Grove from 2005-2021, added. “I would love to see it as a defensive-minded coach.”
Proposal to change soccer from a spring sport to a fall sport
Yet another notable proposal was to change soccer from a spring sport to a fall sport. The UIL also took no action on this one, once again pushing back for a later time, possibly giving themselves the option to make the change later down the road, or deciding they for sure want to keep things as they are.
“This is a great thing,” Sulphur Springs boys soccer coach Alexi Upton said. “I think it would be a logistical nightmare to move it to the fall, with both football and volleyball going on.”
For a lot of schools, the girls teams and boys teams alternate playing at home, with one team playing on the road while the other plays at home. If this rule were to be implemented, they would also have to deal with home football games that could be played on Friday nights.
It would also be tougher for players who also participate in volleyball or football. Upton mentioned how a number of players “would have to go pick something, they wouldn’t be able to play both soccer and volleyball or football at the same time on the varsity level.”
He also mentioned, for the sake of players and families and fans how tough it would be, having to choose who they would go support on any given night. “I don’t want to have to have people who are in band or football or volleyball and to have the players and families separated,” Upton said.
“It would be a step backwards for us. The state of Texas has made a lot of progress in soccer, things are better, the play is better, the fans are better. To do that and move to the fall would be a step backwards.”
There were also a number of topics in which no decision was made, but the committee authorized the staff to study the proposals. One of these included a proposal that would require a best-of-three series in all rounds of 5A-6A baseball post season leading up to the state tournament.
Under the current rules, the two schools choose between a one-game playoff or a best-of-three series. If the two coaches are unable to come to an agreement, a coin is flipped, deciding which one it will be.
If the committee were to pass this later down the road, it currently would not have an affect on any Hopkins County schools, since Sulphur Springs moved to 4A. With smaller schools, especially those in the 2A classifications or lower, having less options, this type of ruling would make it especially hard for them, as in most cases they may not have enough pitchers to consistently play in three-game series’.
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