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Helpful Reminders to Help the Athletic Year Run Smoothly
By Darryl Beasley, Assistant Athletic Director | Tuesday, August 31, 2010 1:59 PM
One thing coaches can appreciate is a school year free of surprises. The last thing a coach needs is to be blindsided with new forms, new rules or changes in general. It’s vital to have routines in place. To eliminate some of those surprises and to help coaches keep those routines running smoothly, here are some helpful topics to review.
Eligibility for Student/Athletes for the First Six Weeks
During the last six weeks in spring, you should have considered checking credits of your athletes to ensure eligibility for the first six weeks of school. This should have been done for the sports (football, volleyball or individual sports) starting before or during the first six weeks of school.
Eligibility for the first six weeks is as follows:
In grades nine and below, students must have been promoted from the previous grade. If a student fails to meet the Student Success Initiative (SSI) grade advancement requirements applied to the TAKS reading and mathematics tests, the Grade Placement Committee (GPC) could determine if a student advanced through this process would be considered as “promoted” or “placed” for purposes of academic eligibility for the first six weeks.
Hawthorne Collaborates on Football Stadium Photo Book
By Julianne Coyne | Tuesday, August 31, 2010 12:06 PM
Former UIL academic director Bobby Hawthorne is at it again.
This time, he’s compiled the text to a new book published by UT Press, “Home Field: Texas High School Football Stadiums from Alice to Zephyr.” The book offers photos of nearly 80 high school football stadiums and quotes collected by Hawthorne.
After Busy Summer, Changes are on the Horizon for OAP
By Luis Munoz | Monday, August 30, 2010 2:33 PM
I pray that all of you have had a wondrous and enlivening summer break. Some of you stayed home, some traveled, some directed and some acted. It was so good to keep up with you and yours through your phone calls, emails and the ever-enlightening Facebook posts. What a barrage of messages, babies, new profile pics, old profile pics, Farmville, gifts, pokes, surveys, quotes and pictures. From Mark Twain to Mark Pickell, they have all been interesting.
I had the pleasure of working with the Texas Thespians All-State Cast and directing another group of high school students at the Texas Tech Theatre Camp. I also had the opportunity to attend the International Thespian Society’s Festival at The University of Nebraska at Lincoln and be around 3000 students from across the nation and a few other countries. I congratulate Clint Cottom, Bryce Ballew, Toby Drake and the cast of Piece of My Heart from Tomball High School on an outstanding production. It was moving, beautifully staged and well-acted. I also congratulate Marilyn Miller, her colleagues and the Cypress-Creek company on their production of Pippin. I enjoyed the “private concert” at your rehearsal. I wish I had been able to stay and see their production but I had to return to Texas for the TETAAO summer meeting. Denison High School wowed the crowds with ZFX Flying Effects show. Round Rock High School also represented us with a production of This, Uh, Body. All of you made Texas proud. I was inspired, and the importance of our work with the youth of our state was reaffirmed.
All in the Family: Gearing Up for the New Year
By Jana Riggins | Friday, August 27, 2010 1:18 PM
Even in the triple digit dog days of summer that linger over Austin, I feel a sense of excitement about school bells ringing again! There’s nothing like the opening week of school when colleagues renew relationships with other faculty members, students arrive to newly-painted walls, waxed floors and colorful bulletin boards alive with news of what is to come. Everyone feels the synergy!
It is especially exciting to me this year because my son Matthew takes the reigns of his very own classroom. Helping him move in and set up his room took me back down memory lane of when my husband Johnny and I started our teaching careers. Ironically, Matt will begin his career just a few miles from where his dad did, oh so many years ago. With a personality that parallels that of his father, somehow I know he will touch as many lives in an undeniable way just as Dad did. And that makes me proud. What a noble profession teaching is! Who changes the world more?
He’s not the only Riggins joining the teaching ranks. His brother Josh begins his student teaching at Anderson High School in Austin this fall, along with coaching athletics. The first day of summer strength camp when he bounced into my office to say, “They called me “Coach, Mom!”, I fought back tears as I asked, “How did that feel?” and his voice enthusiastically resounded, “G-R-E-A-T!”
Houston Prepared Table Charter School
By | Friday, August 27, 2010 11:54 AM
The State Executive Committee suspended Prepared Table Charter School from all UIL activities until a school administrator appears before the State Executive Committee to answer allegations involving misconduct by coach and players.
Official Interpretation
By Mark Cousins, policy director | Friday, August 27, 2010 8:31 AM
Official State Executive Committee Interpretation of section 1206 (e) of the UIL Constitution and Contest Rules:
Section 1206: SCHOOL PRACTICE And GAME RESTRICTIONS
(e) Athletic/Physical Education Classes. Schools will not be required to grant local credit in physical education for student athletes who have completed two units of physical education credit toward state graduation requirements. Student athletes shall not be enrolled in more than one physical education and/or athletic class whether or not they are receiving credit.
Exceptions (with local school approval): PE Class: Adventure/Outdoor Education; PE Substitutes: JROTC, Cheerleading, Drill Team, Marching Band
Good Sportsmanship: It Doesn’t Just Happen
By Cliff Odenwald, director of athletics | Thursday, August 26, 2010 8:56 PM
In today’s culture, young people are bombarded by images of celebrity athletes. Even high school athletes get caught up in believing that it is “all about me.” Students see professional athletes performing celebration dances and promoting themselves, but what doesn’t always make the news are pictures and stories of athletes demonstrating sportsmanship and integrity. Our duty as coaches, teachers, parents and administrators is to emphasize the honor of the game and to teach our athletes the meaning of sportsmanship.
School sponsored athletic programs represent amateur athletics at its best. This year coaches will have an endless stream of teachable moments with the best classroom, whether on the court or on the field. Coaches must recognize and praise displays of good sportsmanship like the behavior of Armando Galarraga, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, who was pitching a perfect game until a bad call was made on the last out of the ninth inning. Galarraga displayed class as he respected the call made by the umpire. The umpire also displayed class as he reviewed the play and admitted it was a bad call. Both men took the high road and demonstrated what is right about athletics and sportsmanship.
Exciting and Busy Year Begins for Academics
By Treva Dayton, academic director | Thursday, August 26, 2010 8:49 PM
Welcome back to yet another new school year! We hope it is an exciting and successful one for you and your students. It was wonderful to see so many of you enthusiastically preparing for another season of academic and theatre competition at our largest ever Capital Conference in July. You can see and hear more about the conference through a slideshow posted in this Leaguer.
If you attended the conference and turned in your attendance hours for CPE credit, you need to go to the academic Web page and print your certificate before Sept. 30.
As you can see from the totally new look of our website, UIL staff has been working diligently to provide more user-friendly, effective communication with member schools and the general public. Please take the time to explore the site to locate those links and resources you most often use and to discover the many new features now available. With a little patience you can find everything you need at this time of year. Honest.
New PML Revision Committee Takes Shape
By Richard Floyd, director of music | Thursday, August 26, 2010 8:42 PM
In January of 2010 I wrote about a vision to modify the process that we use to review and amend the Prescribed Music List. It started out like this.
The long standing procedure for revising the Prescribed Music List has consisted of appointing a committee of five to seven people in band, choir and orchestra, who have four years to study the PML, consider additions and deletions and make recommendations that are incorporated into the list for the next four years. Then the cycle begins anew. This process has remained basically unchanged since at least the 1960s when I served on the PML Revision Committee.
Yet, over the past decade technology has dramatically changed virtually every aspect of how we deal with print music and audio recordings. And, at the same time everything I hear and read suggests that there are many more changes to come. In addition, our Prescribed Music List is now maintained in an electronic database online so there is no need to wait four years to complete a revision in order to print a new book. We can amend the list immediately with just a few keystrokes.
A Few Reminders as the School Year Starts
By David Lambert, TMAA President | Thursday, August 26, 2010 8:39 PM
Welcome back to a new school year and the opportunities it provides you to influence the lives of young people. Nothing is more important than providing a student with a good educational foundation and life skills to help them make their mark in the world.
Since the 2010-2011 school year is just beginning, I thought it might be a good time to re-address a few on-going concerns regarding TMAA, as well as some new concerns that were brought forth last year. Some of this may seem redundant, but it needs to be reiterated so that we keep it fresh in our minds as we go about the daily routine of preparing students for the various competitions and events in the coming year and preparing ourselves to serve as adjudicators for many of these events.