WIAA to consider tougher code of conduct

STEVENS POINT – The WIAA took the first step toward beefing up its code of conduct Wednesday.

During his director’s report at the annual meeting, executive director Dave Anderson warned athletic directors and school administrators to be ready to discuss at the area meetings in September changes in a code of conduct that he said has been essentially untouched since 1979.

Anderson’s remarks followed widespread criticism of the WIAA for not having a policy to prevent a student-athlete convicted of a felony from playing in a state tournament.

The situation gained attention as Deontay Long led Milwaukee Washington to the state boys basketball tournament last month. Long pleaded guilty in January to the felony of being a party to an armed robbery but wasn’t sentenced until April and continued to play for a team that reached the Division 2 final.

“Local control of your school’s own code can still determine regular-season eligibility. But also recognize that the tournaments are the collective property of this entire membership and are the most visible of membership activities,” Anderson said in his speech.

“In this day and age when we increasingly value outside partnerships, relationships and sponsorships, where many fans and legislators follow WIAA in the news and in social media, I believe it’s appropriate to have a conversation about protecting our tournament brand.”

A starting point for that conversation could be the idea that a student charged with a felony not be allowed to participate in WIAA tournaments. Anderson also said the same penalty could apply to anyone who uses a weapon or commits an assault during a code violation.

“As a membership, we’ve already agreed that we take strong action if an athlete assaults an official,” he said. “They are, by our rules, essentially done in the tournament. We remove a hockey team from the tournament for receiving three game-disqualifying penalties. … The soccer coaches have recently recommended a season-ending penalty for three straight red cards.

“We believe there are some code of conduct violations which rise to a level of membership interest and significance that should be at least talked about in the coming year.”

City Conference athletic directors also have started discussions on changing its athletic code. The current code requires a student to sit out 25% of the season after being charged with any crime. That goes up to 50% for a second offense. A third offense results in a one-year suspension. The code, however, doesn’t offer an additional penalty for a conviction.

In Long’s case, he sat out 25% of his next athletic season, which was cross country,

“We’re still (talking about it),” Milwaukee Public Schools director of athletics Bill Molbeck said about changing the district’s athletic code. “What administration wanted me to do was to get thoughts on what athletic directors’ ideas were and then to also see what happened today at the meeting.”

Molbeck was on hand for Anderson’s report and said he was pleased to hear Anderson still favors of local control of athletic codes.

“Different communities have different needs, thoughts, students within their school systems,” Molbeck said.

“I think as membership and as MPS, it’s important still to have some control over what is going on in your own school district.”