D.C. nears decision to create board overseeing high school athletics

The D.C. council could soon establish a new committee that would oversee high school sports across the city.

The D.C. State Athletic Association (DCSAA) already assumes most of those duties, but the organization has come under scrutiny from the city’s public school district. The creation of the D.C. State Athletics Commission would take away some of the DCSAA power and hand it to a committee that some feel would have more balanced representation from school stakeholders.

According to The Washington Post, one of the commission’s primary responsibilities would be to hear appeals on student-athlete eligibility. The commission would comprise parents, administrators and city officials.

From the article:

The athletics commission’s “most important role,” according to David Grosso (I-at large), the chairperson of the D.C. Council’s Committee on Education, will be its requirement to appoint athletics appeals panels.

The DCIAA and individual schools would still conduct investigations and make initial rulings regarding eligibility, but a student would now be able to appeal the decision further. A three-person panel would then review the decision without any additional fact-finding and issue a final ruling.

The DCSAA would become a “quasi-independent” agency that reports to the athletics commission, according to the bill. The athletics commission would appoint a DCSAA executive director and control the DCSAA budget, which had previously been housed under the Office of the State Superintendent of Education.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. It’s not often you see parents in a position to determine a student-athlete’s eligibility, and that might make a lot of athletic directors and coaches a bit uneasy. Especially when there’s a conflict of interest with an athlete or rival school.

Click here to read the complete story from The Washington Post.