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Dear GADA member,
October has arrived with a splash (or flood) of rain. Inclement weather is always a challenge. Here's hoping that we're getting ours out of the way early. Rain keeps all but the diehard fans out of the stands which we need to visit the concession stands and cheer for our teams on the field.
The NIAAA membership message below articulates quite well what our organizations are all about. The GADA and NIAAA work hard for our members and often AD's who are not members don't always know what the benefits the organizations bring. The GADA newsletter reaches out to all GHSA High Schools and many middle schools Athletic Directors with no obligation to join. As members we should all strive to recruit new members as it benefits us all by increasing our numbers. So, the next time you're visiting another school or another AD visits yours, take a minute and ask them if they are a member, and if not, ask them to check out the website, share the email, and encourage them to become members.
Kind Regards,
Tommy Marshall
GADA President
Athletic Director - Marist
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| The National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association
The Professional Organization for Those Who:
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- Understand the foundations of, and believe in, Education-Based Athletics.
- Becomes key for all campus activity when the bell rings dismissing
- the regular school day.
- Serve as a mentor and model for coaches, students, school personnel and spectators.
- Seek best practices, sound knowledge and research, professional interpretation,
- keen insight and proven positions on current issues and difficult issues related
- to interscholastic athletics.
- Provide abundant and safe participation opportunities for student-athletes.
- Manage risk and reduce susceptibility to areas of liability.
- Establish a sound philosophy from which decisions are made, conduct codes
- are established, integrity is an expectation and leadership is developed.
A few of the many benefits provided NIAAA members include:
- Cost savings for the national conference, Leadership Training Institute courses,
- certification, products and services.
- $2,000,000 liability and $2500 life insurance provisions, and reduced rate
- on additional insurance opportunities.
- Access to member portal for personal data and Members Only information items.
- Selection from Leadership Training 40 course curriculum, plus 4 levels
- of Certification.
- Application for Student Scholarship/Essay program at national, section
- and state levels.
- Interscholastic Athletic Administration print and digital journal.
- Awards Program and Hall of Fame
- Service in various NIAAA leadership opportunities.
- Opportunities to teach, publish, present and lead.
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Change job, school, or retire? Help us keep our email list up to date.
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New school years bring new opportunities for our members. If you've changed school, job or know someone who has, email us the updated email address, contact information and title.
CLICK HERE
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Getting it Right: Solving GHSA challenges with math, Part IX
By Loren Maxwell - AJC.com
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PART IX of IX (see links below for additional stories)
Along with most of you, I've been following with interest the GHSA's recent approval of the "Big 44" to start with the 2016 season. At first glance, the separation of the top 10 percent of schools based on enrollment makes good sense, but, like most good ideas, the difficulties are often in the details of the implementation.This is the ninth and final part in a series on answering the question "Which teams are deserving of a playoff invitation?" In it I'll outline a model I'll refer to as "Extended Standings" and over the course of the series I'll provide the exact details so anyone interested can independently verify the results.
Famed sabermetrician Bill James started his 1982 Baseball Abstract by informing the reader:
"If you sometimes get the feeling between here and the back cover that you are coming in on the middle of a discussion, it is because you are."
Of course James was referring to the fact that he and a handful of colleagues had for years been establishing a substantive body of baseball knowledge, much of it devoted to challenging past assumptions and certainly most of it either largely unnoticed or promptly ignored by the baseball community at the time.
The work of James and his contemporaries (along with many others since) has now been made popular by Moneyball, the story of how Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Bean embraced this analytical, evidence-based approach and turned the team into one of the most competitive in Major League Baseball. Although the popularity of Moneyball ironically eroded much of Oakland's advantage as other teams adopted similar tactics, this only serves to illustrate the point that challenging past assumptions through an analytical, evidence-based approach is often the catalyst for making substantive progress.
I started this series by asserting that the greatest classification challenge facing the GHSA is Georgia's uneven population distribution. Although interest has been renewed with the upcoming Big 44, in truth this is part of an ongoing discussion from since the creation of Class AAAAAA in 2012, if not from a few years before then. The greater the effort to separate the largest schools for the purposes of competitive fairness, the greater the difficulty in maintaining an equitable region alignment for those few geographically-isolated large schools in South Georgia.
This is the ninth and final part in a series on answering the question "Which teams are deserving of a playoff invitation?" In it I'll outline a model I'll refer to as "Extended Standings" and over the course of the series I'll provide the exact details so anyone interested can independently verify the results.
Famed sabermetrician Bill James started his 1982 Baseball Abstract by informing the reader:
"If you sometimes get the feeling between here and the back cover that you are coming in on the middle of a discussion, it is because you are."
Of course James was referring to the fact that he and a handful of colleagues had for years been establishing a substantive body of baseball knowledge, much of it devoted to challenging past assumptions and certainly most of it either largely unnoticed or promptly ignored by the baseball community at the time.
The work of James and his contemporaries (along with many others since) has now been made popular by Moneyball, the story of how Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Bean embraced this analytical, evidence-based approach and turned the team into one of the most competitive in Major League Baseball. Although the popularity of Moneyball ironically eroded much of Oakland's advantage as other teams adopted similar tactics, this only serves to illustrate the point that challenging past assumptions through an analytical, evidence-based approach is often the catalyst for making substantive progress.
I started this series by asserting that the greatest classification challenge facing the GHSA is Georgia's uneven population distribution. Although interest has been renewed with the upcoming Big 44, in truth this is part of an ongoing discussion from since the creation of Class AAAAAA in 2012, if not from a few years before then. The greater the effort to separate the largest schools for the purposes of competitive fairness, the greater the difficulty in maintaining an equitable region alignment for those few geographically-isolated large schools in South Georgia. Read more...
Read PART II, PART III, PART IV, PART V, PART VI, PART VII, PART VIII
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Join and Renew your GADA-NIAAA
memberships with Paypal
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| Georgia high school football player with cerebral palsy inspiring other teams
By Nicole EmmettWSBTV.com
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FAYETTE COUNTY, GA - Victory was the last thing on Benji Rutland's mind after the game between his Sandy Creek High School Patriots and the Hampton Hornets.
When the buzzer sounded Friday night, he went over to his mother, who says she saw the look of awe and excitement in his eyes.
"Did you see number 62? Did you see him? He's the epitome of no excuses," Heather Trompke says her 16-year-old son asked. "He told me, 'I want to go shake his hand.'"
Heather Trompke can hardly explain the rest without becoming overcome with pride, emotion and happiness about what followed.
Devon Berry, a senior at Hampton High School, is a stellar athlete, playing football, basketball and wrestling, Trompke said. She said he is a great student, and has a relationship with his faith that inspires her.
He has cerebral palsy, but that doesn't hold him back.
"He's the real deal," Trompke said.
When Benji, a junior at Sandy Creek High School, introduced himself to Berry, barely anyone noticed. That moment, only captured by a photograph and Trompke's well-written recollection posted to Facebook the next morning, is now gaining national attention.
"He just told Devon, 'You inspire me. I wanted to come meet you and shake your hand'," Trompke said.
The following morning, when Trompke says she would typically recap the game and her son's accomplishments as kicker for the three time state champion Patriots, she was moved to mention Berry, and his achievements.
Her post has already been shared thousands of times, and the teens have since started talking almost daily.
"They were just texting last night, making plans for when they will hang out soon," Trompke said.
While she's proud of her son for his humility in recognizing another player during what could have been a moment to celebrate with his team, she says the real hero and inspiration is her son's newfound friend. Read more...
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Sincerely,
Tommy Marshall
President
Georgia Athletic Directors Association
www.gadaonline.net |
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| NIAAA's Guide to Interscholastic Athletic Administration
Featuring Decatur AD and past GADA President Carter Wilson
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 "It is an honor to have served as a contributor to Human Kinetics' NIAAA Guide to Interscholastic Athletic Administration. The goal of this publication is to serve as a comprehensive guide for athletic administrators in Georgia and throughout the country. I am proud to be a member of the GADA and the NIAAA and I hope that this publication will assist others in their service to young people." - Carter Wilson Click HERE to purchase the guide.
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Parents buy Ga. team safety gear in memory of son
Jeremy Campbell, WXIA
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 JOHNS CREEK, Ga. -- High school football games bring cheering fans, excited teams and often worried parents. However at Johns Creek High School every player got a safety upgrade on Thursday.
"Right now it is swag, but they won't know how beneficial this until they wear it," said Brian Haugen.
Haugen is a football dad who never saw his son graduate.
"My son received a tackle from the front and back when he jumped up to catch a pass over his head, and it crushed his liver," explained his mother Kathy Haugen.
The impact was to Taylor Haugen's mid-section, an area poorly protected by helmets or pads. The Florida teen became unresponsive before arriving at the hospital.
That's where the Evoshield hopes to change things. The Georgia-made safety pads arrive vacuum sealed, but once the package opens they activate. Within ten to fifteen minutes the pad becomes rock hard, and form-fits to the player's body. Read more...
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Sportsmanship 'lost' in ref hit incident
Demond Fernandez, WFAA |
School-sponsored elite athletics have come to a point where a solid argument can be made that their overall impact on our academic values and educational priorities has become more negative than positive. And we are all responsible.DALLAS - Athletics directors and coaches from across the country are keeping a close eye on the University Interscholastic League's (UIL) investigation involving two high school football players who attacked a referee from behind earlier this month.
The disturbing video of the incident has been seen across the country now. Football players from San Antonio's John Jay High School are seen on the video charging a referee from behind during a game in Marble Falls on Sept. 4.
"Our community remains heartbroken over this incident," said a Northside ISD administrator said during a hearing on the investigation in Austin on Thursday.
The school's administrators were among investigators and witnesses called to testify before the State Executive Committee of the UIL.
"It's been a grueling process, but one that was very, very necessary," said Jamey Harrison, the UIL's deputy director.
At issue is whether any UIL rules were violated during the controversial high school football game. Read more...
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