Proposal to Create a Uniform Dead Period for Fall and Spring Sports
Current TSSAA Rules mandate Fall Dead Periods for the following sports:
- Football, Cross Country, Volleyball, and Golf: End of Season until Completion of 3 weeks (21 consecutive days)
- Baseball, Softball, Tennis, Boys Soccer and Track: Oct. 29, 2007-Nov. 18, 2007
Two problems come from this:
1) In cross country, the post-State Meet Dead Period disallows coaches from participating with their athletes in postseason meets, including Footlocker and Nike Team Nationals, which they have been able to do for the past 30 years. The Dead Period ignores the traditional end of the cross county season, which is the Footlocker National Championships in December. It also creates an inequity, since track coaches may coach their athletes to post-season meets such as Nike Outdoor Nationals, since there are no restrictions on post-season track competition. The rule is applied inconsistently.
2) The school year Dead Period creates confusion because the Dead Periods for football, cross country, volleyball, and golf may come at different times, a different week during the term, depending on how far the team goes into the state playoffs. This means confusion for athletes, coaches, and administrators, since facilities may obviously be open and usable during this time and with the school’s coaches, yet the athletes may not have contact with their own coach nor with any other coach at the school during that time (unless in season, such as basketball).
Proposal:
We propose that fall and spring sports (excluding basketball and wrestling) observe a single dead period similar to the summer Dead Period, during which all school athletic facilities would be closed for these sports. This Dead Period would begin on the day after the Blue Cross Bowl, which this year falls on December 8, and extend for 21 consecutive calendar days until December 29. There would be no restriction on coach/athlete contact until the beginning of the Dead Period, which is similar to the lack of restriction place on spring sports immediately after the conclusion of the spring season.
The advantages of this proposal:
1) All fall and spring sports would observe the same dead period, during which all facilities would be closed.
2) Post-season workouts, conditioning, observation, recruiting (i.e. colleges recruiting our athletes), banquets, and other activities would be legal and do-able immediately after the season. When the dead period begins immediately after the conclusion of the season, it’s impossible to tie up loose ends effectively.
3) Our athletes would be able to continue to compete, under our supervision, in post-season competitions with the coaches who know them best athletically, academically, and socially.