GHSA
ITEMS OF INTEREST - Vol. 43 No. 1
"Items of Interest" for September 2024 (Vol. 43 No. 1)
Welcome NEW Executive Director, Dr. Tim Scott
As we embark on another exciting year here at the Georgia High School Association, I am filled with anticipation for the opportunities and experiences that lie ahead for our member schools. The beginning of a new school year is always a time of promise and potential; this year is no exception. A big change for me this school year is coming to work for you and the Georgia High School Association. It is a welcomed challenge and I am humbled and honored to assume my role and serve you. It is important that I am accessible to you, under any circumstances, and that I provide you with great customer service. I also want our processes and procedures to continue to be transparent. Here at the GHSA office, we will continue to make our best effort to communicate with you to provide the best service possible. After all, the GHSA is your association. I have had the opportunity to meet with many groups throughout the summer and look forward to meeting many more. Please let me know of opportunities to join you throughout the year and I’ll make every attempt to do so.
We are delighted to welcome back our member schools and our official associations. Our dedicated staff have been working diligently to prepare for this year, ensuring our members receive high-quality opportunities in a safe and supportive environment.
The GHSA is thrilled to offer a wide range of extracurricular activities. The GHSA plays a vital role in organizing and regulating interscholastic activities for high school students. These activities allow our students to develop skills, pursue passions, and build lasting friendships.
The GHSA oversees a variety of activities, including:
Athletics: From football, basketball, and soccer to swimming, tennis, lacrosse, and track and field, as well as others, there are numerous sports in which our students can participate. These not only promote physical fitness but also teach valuable lessons in teamwork, discipline, and perseverance.
Fine Arts: For students interested in the arts, the GHSA offers opportunities in areas such as music, theater, and visual arts. Participation in these activities allows students to express their creativity and hone their artistic talents.
Literary Events: The GHSA also organizes literary competitions, including essay writing, public speaking, and debate. These events encourage students to develop communication skills and engage in intellectual challenges.
We encourage all students to take advantage of the extracurricular activities available to them. Participation in these activities enhances the overall educational experience and contributes to personal growth and development.
As we begin this new school year, we are committed to providing you with a supportive environment where every student can thrive. We look forward to a year of learning, growth, and memorable experiences.
Thank you for your continued support and partnership. Let's make this year the best one yet!
Join the conversation on social media @OfficialGHSA on TikTok, Twitter (X), Facebook, Instagram and YouTube
REMINDER: The GHSA has again waived Membership Dues for all schools for the fifth straight year.
Georgia High School Association Monthly Newsletter, September through May, by the Georgia High School Association, 151 S. Bethel St., Thomaston, GA 30286 Phone: 706-647-7473 Fax: 706-647-2638 Web: www.ghsa.net Office Hours: 8am to 4 pm Monday - Friday
TIM SCOTT - Executive Director - (extension 41) Administration, Interpretation of GHSA Rules, Hardship Applications, Appeals, Coaches Education Program tim.scott@ghsa.net
JAY RUSSELL - Assistant Executive Director - (ext. 23) Football, Golf, Hardship Eligibility jayrussell@ghsa.net
ROBIN HINES - GHSA Legislative Liaison/Consultant. By-law interpretations, Eligibility, Hardship rulings, Swimming, Bass Fishing
ERNIE YARBROUGH - Liaison/Consultant - (ext. 27) Championship Logistics, Flag Football, Lacrosse ery@ghsa.net
TANYA ANDERSON - Associate Director - (ext. 29) Literary, One Act Play, Esports, Cross Country, Track & Field, and Event Sanctioning tanyaanderson@ghsa.net
DON CORR - Associate Director - (ext. 34) Softball, Wrestling, Baseball, Sports Medicine, Post Season Ranking don.corr@ghsa.net
DARRELL LANE - Associate Director - (ext. 42) Volleyball, Basketball, Soccer, Officiating Department darrell@ghsa.net
PENNY PITTS MITCHELL - Associate Director - (ext. 22) Cheerleading, Game Day Cheerleading, Gymnastics, Dance, Student Leadership, Title IX penny@ghsa.net
CARROR WRIGHT - Associate Director - (ext. 39) Coach’s Liaison, Compliance & Transfer Eligibility, Sportsmanship cwright@ghsa.net
MARVIN JAMES - Media Director - (ext. 26) Press Releases, Media Coordination of State Events, Newsletter, Constitution & Calendar, Tennis marvin.james@ghsa.net
ROBIN BULLINGTON - Office Manager - (ext. 33) Budgeting and Finances, Playoff & Championship Finances, Staff Procedures robin@ghsa.net
JULIE JONES - Administrative Assistant - (ext. 24) Community Coach Program, Entry Notification, Dues, Paraprofessional Head Coach Program juliejones@ghsa.net
STACEY JONES - Administrative Assistant - (ext. 32) Riflery Liaison, School Contacts & School Passes, Directory, Coaches’ Clinics, Trophies & Medals stacey@ghsa.net
SHERI EUBANKS - Receptionist - (ext. 0) Lifetime Passes, School System Passes, Ejection Reports, Publication Orders, Rules Violation and Ejection Fines, Wrestling Weight Management Coordinator, NFHS Annual Participation Survey sherieubanks@ghsa.net
PAM THOMPSON - Officials' Registrar - (ext. 30) Officials' Clinic Attendance, Officials' Registrations, Test Scoring & Records, Waivers, Officials and Evaluator Passes, GHSA Recruiting Grant, Publications and eBooks, Awards, Service Plaques pamthompson@ghsa.net
LINDA CROWDER - Administrative Assistant - (ext. 21) Organizing Championship Medals, Assist with Cheerleading, Student Leadership, Literary, School System Passes, Finance Reports linda@ghsa.net
Long-time journalist and TV sports broadcaster Marvin James is the GHSA’s new director of media relations. He will take over for the retired Steve Figueroa, who held the position since 2001. James worked with 13WMAZ TV (CBS affiliate) in Macon since 1999, most recently as the main sports anchor and multi-media journalist. Marvin played prep football at Warner Robins HS and later Georgia Southern while attending the university in Statesboro.
Get Ready for Cancer Awareness Month
September is official fall sports "Cancer Awareness Month" in the Georgia High School Association. Teams may wear colored jerseys, socks, wristbands, and headbands during a home event to show support for their chosen cancer fundraiser.
As part of September Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, the GHSA is partnering with, Rally Foundation (https://rallyfoundation.org) and CURE Childhood Cancer (https://curechildhoodcancer.org) dedicated to funding targeted research while supporting patients and their families. Please visit their websites, to learn how to Go Gold at one of your upcoming games.
In observance of Breast Cancer "Pink" awareness, the GHSA allows member schools to wear "Pink" at their HOME event.
January (winter) and April (spring) are additional "cancer awareness" months throughout the GHSA scholastic season.
Thank you to everyone in advance for your enthusiasm and action to fight back against cancer.
GHSA Licensed Products
This month's featured licensees are: Jostens, official championship rings and jewlery (jostens.com), CheerSounds, official music provider of cheerleading with premade mixes, make your own mix, and fully custom music.(cheersounds.com) ; Musco Sports Lighting, leader in developing sports-lighting technology solutions (musco.com); Hudl, official video exchange service (hudl.com); Hartwell Studio Works, creating unique, dynamic and protectable spirit logos / marks (hartwellstudioworks.com, NFHS Network, School Broadcast Program produces, distributes and monetize your school's own video streaming Web powered by PlayOn Sports. (nfhsnetwork.com/associations/ghsa); For A Better World & Positive Athlete GA, student character recognition partner (abw.org & georgia.positiveathlete.org); and TeamIP, official merchandiser and online store (teamip.com). RefReps, exclusive standardized officiating education partner (refreps.com) View a complete list of GHSA licensees at www.ghsa.net/licensing.
The 2024-25 GHSA Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) had the first meeting of the year in Macon on August 21, 2024. The council is made up of 20 student-athletes with a male and female representative from each class and four “at large” members. The council’s focus this year will be on how to improve sportsmanship in schools, ways to acknowledge coaches and players who set good examples, and on improving the Inspiration Award and Student Section contest. The council will be posting on Instagram (@ghsa.saac) and X (formerly Twitter) (@athleteGhsa). For more information on the SAAC, you can contact Penny Mitchell at penny@ghsa.net or Tanya Anderson at tanyaanderson@ghsa.net.
The GHSA hosted "Officiate Georgia Day" on Saturday, July 27th at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel & Convention Center. More than 1,700 Georgia officials in all sports attended the day-long event. "Officiate Georgia Day" was a kickoff for the NASO Sports Officiating Summit that started on July 28th and wrapped up on July 30th.
"Officiate Georgia Day" featured renowned guest speakers from the world of sports officiating including the Olympics, NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and much more. There were also several break-out groups specializing in discussion of GHSA sports. Some sessions featured guest panels to provide, "Q & A" from leaders of the game. Our overall goal of hosting "OGD" was to show the sports officiating world and to show that in Georgia we value the opportunity to “stay in the game.”
SIDENOTE: Former GHSA Director of Officiating, Ernie Yarbrough was recognized with the GACA Sam Burke Award for his commitment to high school athletics in Georgia, and the prestigious NFHS Citation Award for his leadership and contribution to high school athletics.
GHSA updates by laws on Name, Image, Likeness
Georgia High School Association will no longer allow high school athletes to earn money by using their name, image, and likeness from a NIL club or collective.
The change was made Thursday, July 18th after the GHSA held a meeting with its board of trustees. The group voted to amend the rules to prevent NIL clubs and collectives from allowing athletes to profit at the high school level.
Robin Hines, who was in his last official meeting as the executive director of the GHSA, said he encourages parents and student-athletes to become better educated on the rules of NIL within GHSA so a possible violation never happens.
Schools Are Reminded of MaxPreps Requirements in 2024-25
Schools are reminded that you are required to enter team schedules, rosters and game results during the season on MaxPreps and be responsible for updates as needed in the sports of Baseball, Basketball, Football (including Flag Football), Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball and Volleyball.
This information will support statewide media, event programs, broadcasts partners and GHSA Region Standings. Teams are encouraged to maintain team / individual statistics on MaxPreps.
Logging in to MaxPreps
Login to MaxPreps.com and click the user icon in the upper right corner. n Click on your school to be taken to the coach admin. You will see links for your roster & schedule.
Need access to MaxPreps?
To gain access, you can contact Aaron Hendricks (ahendricks@maxpreps.com) with your school & sport if you do not have access to your coach admin.
Schedules
1. Once logged in, click on “Schedule” 2. To add a game, click on “+ Add” 3. Fill out the game information (date, time, location, game type). 4. The information will reflect on the team page within 15-30 minutes.
Scores
Step-by-step instructions on how to enter scores are available by going to:
https://support.maxpreps.com/hc/en-us/articles/5803435720347-Score-Management-for-Team-AdminsRosters
1. Once logged in, click on your school to be taken to the coach admin. You’ll see links for your roster. 2. Click on Roster in the menu or under the Team Checklist. 3. Click “Copy Roster from Last Year” to advance everyone from last year’s team -or- select “Quick Add” to begin manually entering athletes. 4. Remember to include jersey numbers.
Stats
The GHSA encourages coaches to submit stats after every game to help promote high school sports, and accurately track team and student-athlete performances. Step-by-step instructions of how to enter and edit stats is available here: https://support.maxpreps.com/hc/en-us/articles/202103644-Stat-Management
We have great integration between GameChanger and MaxPreps, allowing for stats to be synced automatically. You will find instructions here: https://support.maxpreps.com/hc/en-us/articles/208478467-GameChanger-Sync-with-MaxPreps
Live scores
Keep your community up to date by assigning someone to provide live score updates.
More info here: https://support.maxpreps.com/hc/en-us/articles/202176914-Sports-with-live-scores Live scores will appear on MaxPreps.com & the MaxPreps app.
MaxPreps app
A brand new MaxPreps app just launched prior to the season, download it today! n Among the new features is the ability to create custom scoreboards by sport or location.
MaxPreps Help & Support
High School coaches may contact MaxPreps at support@maxpreps.com with any questions.
Support articles and videos on how to login, post scores and more are available at support.maxpreps.com
MeetPro + MileSplit: The Future of Meet Management
The future of Meet Management, putting all of the vital tools into a user-friendly dashboard and a button push away, has arrived. Introducing MeetPro, the track & field and crosscountry meet management application from DirectAthletics. MeetPro is an inexpensive and full-featured meet management solution designed to meet all of the needs of timers, meet directors, coaches, athletes and fans. Learn more -https://tfmeetpro.com/features
Team Building with Adopt a Cow - Register by September 15th
Build team morale with a fun team-building exercise! The Dairy Alliance Adopt a Cow program is FREE for schools. School administrators, Athletic Directors, Academic Activities Directors, and Coaches can adopt a cow this school year. Learn more Here
Sign Up at discoverdairy.com/adopt by September 15th!
Charles Drew sophomore, De'Lon Jackson recovers from car accident
Jackson was struck by a car, while attending to his mother who was was involved in an accident at his high school on July 29th
The Charles Drew football program kicked off their 2024 season with victory and defeat. Several weeks before their season opener 13-6 win over Riverdale, Titans sophomore De’Lon Jackson experienced a serious, non fatal accident that resulted in the amputation of Jackson’s lower right leg. Drew Head Coach Steve Robinson shared with GHSA Director of Media Relations, Marvin James how the team plans to honor Jackson on the field going forward. Jackson’s mother, Raven also spoke to GHSA about her son’s progress and his road to recovery and how you can help.
To help De’Lon and his family please visit: https://gofund.me/eb762c8a
2024 Radio PSAs Now Available
Download and Share Your 2024 Radio PSAs!
School sports and performing arts need our support now more than ever.
That’s why our not-for-profit organizations—the NFHS and the NIAAA—have produced new radio PSAs that will help.
They cover the biggest topics surrounding school sports and performing arts that your community needs to hear—fan behavior at athletic events, student mental wellness, the value of participation, recruiting high school officials and showing appreciation for athletic administrators.
These PSAs are for everyone, no matter how you’re connected to school sports and performing arts!
For more information: https://www.supporthighschoolsports.org/
Sports Nutrition Resource
Take the guesswork out of proper fueling for your high school athletes with the High School Sports Nutrition Resource, developed by board-certified sports dietitians and aligns with the National Federation of State High School Association's position statements.
GHSA Coach saves student athlete with CPR and AED device
Sophomore student athlete collapsed during basketball conditioning at Heritage HS
In early August on the campus of Heritage High School in Rockdale County, a player collapsed during basketball conditioning. Head basketball coach, Scheraun King, immediately assessed the incident as a cardiac event. King then administered CPR and successfully deployed an AED device to revive the sophomore. The student-athlete was later transported to the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta where he recovered and was released. GHSA Director of Media Relations, Marvin James, talked to King via Zoom about the August 2nd incident. Heritage Athletic Director, Dorian Powell-Harris and Rockdale County AD and head Athletic trainer, Dr. Kechia Rowles, CMAA, LAT/LAC also weighed in on the AED save.
ACT and SAT Assessment Dates
Each year, the GHSA office gets requests to alter schedules due to conflicts with ACT and SAT tests. We cannot accommodate those requests. The following chart gives dates of the exams and possible conflicts with GHSA activities. We urge you to inform your athletes and coaches now about these dates in order for the athletes to plan their assessments around events in which they are to compete.
ACT ASSESSMENT DATES
September 14, 2024
October 26, 2024 (Activity Conflict - volleyball playoffs)
December 14, 2024 (Activity Conflict - football playoffs)
February 8, 2025 (Activity Conflict - Traditional Wrestling Area Tournament)
April 5, 2025 (Activity conflict - Baseball, Soccer games)
June 14, 2025
July 12, 2025
SAT ASSESSMENT DATES
October 5, 2024
November 2, 2024 (Activity Conflict - XC Meet, Region Cheer, Volleyball Finals)
December 7, 2024 (Activity Conflict - Football Playoffs)
March 8, 2025 (Activity Conflict - Region/Area Literary, Basketball Finals)
May 3, 2025 (Activity Conflict - T&F Sectionals, Baseball/Lacrosse playoffs)
June 7, 2025
AP EXAM DATES
Week 1 - May 5-9, 2025 (Activity Conflict - Baseball/Lacrosse/Tennis/Golf Playoffs)
Week 2 - May 12-19, 2025 (Activity Conflict - Baseball/Soccer Playoffs)
GHSA - September/October Calendar 2024
SEPTEMBER
(2) Labor Day, GHSA Office closed
(9) First Practice date for Flag Football
(10) Hardship/Appeal Committee Meeting
(14) First Contest date for Game Day Cheerleading
(24) Hardship/Appeal Committee Meeting
(30) Earliest date for Flag Football game
OCTOBER
(1) Deadline for notification of entry in One Act Play
(6-7) State Executive Committee Meeting
(7) First Practice date for Swimming & Diving
(8) Hardship/Appeal Committee Meeting
(10) Complete Region Fastpitch Softball
(11) Report Region Fastpitch Softball winners by 9 a.m.
(12) Determine Region/Area Volleyball winners
(14) Report Region/Area Volleyball winners by 9 a.m.
(14-17) State Fastpitch Softball Tournament Super Regionals
(15-16) First Round State Volleyball Tournament
(19) Second Round State Volleyball Tournament
(21-24) Second Round State Fastpitch Softball Tournament
(22,23) Quarterfinals State Volleyball Tournament
(22) Hardship/Appeal Committee Meeting
(26) Semifinals State Volleyball Tournament
(28) Deadline for Cross County Rosters
(30 - Nov 2) Fastpitch Softball Tournament