Van Heukelem is no stranger to the Denver Christian community serving as a teach and coach with the school for over 30 years.  He has most recently been the head coach at Littleton high school and has served under Coach Katte for 32 years as an assistant.

Van Heukelem has also been head coach for the Crusaders boys and girls soccer teams winning a state championship in 1997.  Recently he was inducted into the Colorado High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame for his numerous contributions as a coach and educator.

Katte ended his career at Denver Christian as the all-time leader in wins for basketball coaches in the state and his 2A state championship was the 8^th of his brilliant career.

Going down to defeat on a narrow 35-33 vote was a proposal for Class 4A basketball to return to a district tournament format to determine state tournament qualifiers.  This proposal would have also required the regular season to be trimmed from 23 to 19 games.  Since the proposal was defeated, a selection committee made up of volunteers from throughout the state will continue to select and seed the 48-team tournament.

In Class 2A, the regional tournament round will be moving from a preset bracket to a seeded tournament with geographic consideration.  The eight district champions will be seeded one through eight with teams nine through 24 also seeded and placed in the bracket with some consideration for travel and to avoid district opponent.  Teams seeded 25-32 will be assigned a bracket position simply based on geography.  The eight regional winners will then be reseeded for the state tournament.

In another scheduling change, the 4A and 5A state championship games will now be played on the same date at the CU Events Center in Boulder.  Previously, the girls championship contests were conducted on a Friday with the boy’s finals played out the next day.  As a result, the Final Four for Classes 4A and 5A will be shortened from a four day to three day event saving the organization about $25,000.

Jennifer Roberts-Uhlig, Sheridan High School athletic director and assistant principal, has been named an Assistant Commissioner with the Colorado High School Activities Association. CHSAA Commissioner Paul Angelico made the announcement at the organization’s April Board of Control Meeting today. Roberts-Uhlig will join the staff July 1 and completes the CHSAA administrative staff for 2012-2013.

Roberts-Uhlig takes over as Assistant Commissioner following the resignation of current Associate Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green who has been named as the Nebraska School Activities Association executive director. Blanford-Green was a member of the CHSAA staff the past 15 years.

Jenn Roberts-Uhlig will be an exceptional addition to our staff. She is a personable, qualified, experienced and extremely focused professional. Her work at Sheridan , as reflective of the programs she started there and the sense of community she created, show her commitment to student participation and the educational experiences they bring,” Angelico said.

“I am excited to join in the work that Paul and the rest of the staff do for students and activities in our state. I will miss Sheridan and the great people of that community, but am looking forward to the challenge of working closely with the coaches, staff, administrators and participants in this new endeavor,” Roberts-Uhlig said.

A Colorado native, Roberts-Uhlig started her teaching and coaching career at Sheridan in 2000. She currently serves as the school’s head track & field coach, has served in a variety of assistant coaches roles for soccer, track & field and cheerleading. She also headed the SHS student leadership program.

Sheridan principal Michele Kelley called Roberts-Uhlig, the “heart and soul” of SHS for the work she did to create a community partnership in the area. She developed an “exceptional student” class designed for students who participate in athletics and activities, serving 100-125 participants annually. She worked with local businesses to garner sponsorship and fees to help fund the special programs within the school.

As an alumnus, Roberts-Uhlig started the Sheridan High School Alumni Association, served on the Building Leadership Team, School Bond Committee, Crisis Team Committee, Community Outreach Committee (CANDO) and the Health and Wellness Committee, all within the Sheridan community.

On a league front, Roberts-Uhlig chaired the girls’ basketball and spirit committees and organized the first Frontier League spirit competition. She has served on the CHSAA Softball Committee and has been a member of the CHSAA Basketball Seeding Committee. She has been a member of the Colorado High School Coaches Association and the Colorado Athletics Directors Association since 2008.

Roberts is a 1997 graduate of Sheridan High School, earned her bachelor’s degree in 2006 from Metropolitan State College and picked up her master’s degree from the University of Phoenix in 2009. Roberts-Uhlig is married to Kevin Uhlig and they have two children Madison, 7, and Brady, 3.

]]> http://coloradopreps.com/2012/04/new-chsaa-commissioner-named/feed/ 0 http://coloradopreps.com/2012/01/next-chsaa-legislative-council-meeting-set-for-january-19th/ http://coloradopreps.com/2012/01/next-chsaa-legislative-council-meeting-set-for-january-19th/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:58:40 +0000 kevin http://coloradopreps.com/?p=7197 The Colorado High School Activities Association will conduct their next Legislative Council meeting on January 19^th and on the agenda are minor changes to the football post-season but a major overhaul of the volleyball playoff system.  The entire agenda can be seen at www.chsaa.org but below are a few of the changes under consideration.

FOOTBALL PROPOSALS

• Reduce the Class 2A regular season from ten to nine games
• Return to the 2A state championship game to a home site
• Change the 1A playoff format for the top two finishers in each conference to automatically qualify for the post-season with the remaining four teams to be selected by a seeding committee
• Change a guideline in post-season seeding concerning a playoff game involving league opponents.  If the two teams have played the same number of home playoff games, then the team that finished higher in the league standings will host regardless of seed

VOLLEYBALL PROPOSALS

• State qualifiers in each class would be increased from eight to 12 and a new state format moving from four team pool to three team pool play would be put in place.
• State tournament:  Four three-team pools would be created in each class with the winners of each pool advancing to a pre-set semi-final bracket.
• Eliminate district tournaments in Classes 3A through 5A and allow teams in those divisions to increase the number of regular season matches from 19 to 23.
• In Classes 3A through 5A, 12 three-team regionals would be played with the winners automatically advancing to the state tournament.  Conference champions receive automatic berths to regionals with the remaining teams selected based on the Freeman Rankings of MaxPreps.
• Reformat district and regional tournaments in Classes 1A and 2A.  Three teams from each district would advance to a pre-set regional bracket.  Eight three-team regionals would be played with the winners automatically advancing to the state tournament.  Four wild card teams would then be selected to compete at the state tournament with those teams decided by the Freeman Rankings designed by MaxPreps.

SOFTBALL PROPOSALS

• Reduce the number of state qualifiers in Class 3A from 16 to 12 and reduce the number of post-season qualifers to 24 overall

BASEBALL PROPOSALS

• Eliminate the pre-set regional bracket in Class 2A and move Burlington from District 7 to District 8 in Class 2A

We’ll also visit with several coaches who win important games tonight.  Some of the games we’ll be watching include the boys matchups between Pawnee-Fleming, Sterling-Windsor and Mead-Berthoud.  On the girls side, we’re focusing on the matchups between Air Academy-ThunderRidge and Merino-Sedgwick County among others.

Final scores can be reported to Colorado Preps by text to 970.380.7737 or by email at kevin@coloradopreps.com.  You can also call us toll free at 866.534.6257.  Final scores will be posted each night on our sister website at www.coloradoscores.com which you can also access on your mobile phone at www.coloradoscores.mobi.

If your school has a twitter feed that provides updates on your games, please let us know and we’ll follow you on our twitter feed at www.twitter.com/coloradopreps.

You may also check out live broadcasts throughout the state on our website at www.ihigh.com/coloradopreps.

For football results, please check our sister website at www.coloradoscores.com and you can follow results on your smart phone as well at www.coloradoscores.mobi.  Click on the football section and then the scoreboard button for daily results.  We of course will provide in-game updates from all classes and all corners of Colorado.  You can sort by class and by league to easily find the score your choice.

For district volleyball, there are two ways to track.  We’ll also post results in the volleyball section of www.coloradoscores.com and on the mobile piece as well at www.coloradoscores.mobi plus you can track the tournaments here on Colorado Preps.  Just click on the Playoff section in the volleyball menu and then choose the class of your choice to follow your school.

We’ll also recap Friday and look ahead to Saturday in both sports during the Built Ford Tough Scoreboard Show tonight from 9:30-11:00pm on the Colorado Preps Radio Network.  It airs on 20 stations throughout the state.

If you have questions about our coverage or have trouble finding the results you need, give us a call toll free at 866.534.6257 or email us at kevin@coloradopreps.com.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families involved and the surrounding communities.

Kerry Sherman will bring you the play-by-play coverage of the Cougars and Rams from Akron.  Brian will be on hand for the six-man battle between Briggsdale and Pawnee while Ben will have a day-night doubleheader of football and volleyball.  He’ll bring you the football contest between Weldon Valley and Peetz and then follow up with the volleyball battle.

All games are available live tonight and immediately after the broadcast, you can watch each contest on-demand.  Broadcasts in Northeast Colorado are presented by Bank of Colorado and Viaero and provided in conjunction with I-High.  Again all the broadcasts, both live and on-demand, will be available throughout the season at www.ihigh.com/coloradopreps.

Colorado Preps also wants to expand live video coverage into other sections of the state.  If you have interest in helping us out, shoot us a quick email at kevin@coloradopreps.com.  We’re looking for broadcaster, camera operators and also sales representatives.  If you love high school sports and want to help us out, shoot us an email.

Volleyball continues it’s first week with several tournaments throughout the state.  The best may take place in Regis where several of the top big school state challengers are in the field.  Softball is also in for a very busy weekend.  In addition to the Triple Crown tournament in Fort Collins, maybe the best regular season softball event begins in Erie.  Coach Bob Bledsoe and his group are again playing host to the Erie Festival which features the host and defending 4A state champions along with four-time reigning big school champions Legacy.  Also in the field are a couple of powerhouses from Oklahoma.

All the matchups, schedules and results can be found on our second website at www.coloradoscores.com.  You may also track the scores on our new mobile website at www.coloradoscores.mobi.  It sets up perfectly on virtually every version out there.  You can help us track scores by texting them to 970.380.7737, emailing to kevin@coloradopreps.com or calling us toll free at 866.534.6257.

In the coming days, Colorado Preps will also release a mobile site where this information will be available on your smartphones.  That website will be www.coloradoscores.mobi. As we’ve done in the past, Colorado Preps will provide in-progress scores of virtually every football game in the state and that information this year will be easily available on your smart phone.  Please set your phone now with www.coloradoscores.mobi to get ready for the fast approaching season.

Check out the two new websites and if you see errors, please contact us at kevin@coloradopreps.com.  If you have a schedule we’re missing, you may send that to the same email address.  Thanks for your patience as we continue to develop and fine tune the new websites.  Hopefully in the near future, the websites will also combine into one full-fledged website.

A link to the broadcast page is available by clicking here. Only the championship games in all sports will be streamed online.  DVD’s of the games can be purchased for $30.  You can purchase a copy by emailing Brian at barnmedia@yahoo.com.

The Class 1A basketball playoff format has undergone almost yearly changes for the past three seasons and the process could be altered once again if a proposal is approved today by the Board of Control.  Three years ago, 32 teams qualified for regionals, then two years ago the number was 24 and last year it was just 16.  Under the proposal to be voted upon today, the number jumps back to 22.

Under the plan, districts one and eight (Western Slope and Denver areas) will qualify two teams to regionals and those two will be paired up for the traditional one versus two format.  The remaining districts will each receive three regional qualifiers.  Those teams will then be paired into nine team regionals with the top two teams then advancing to the state tournament where the bracket will then be reseeded.

The Class 4A basketball bracket may also return to a 48-team format.  Last year, the field was reduced to 32 teams for the first time in recent history.  A proposal for a return to the larger bracket is under consideration today.  In Class 3A, a proposal is also on the table to protect league champions in certain district tournaments where more than one league is involved.

In football, there is a proposal from the Ark Valley league to adjust the proposed enrollment numbers for six man, eight-man, Class 1A and 2A.  The proposal calls for the six man division to be set up for teams with 75 students or less and then alter the eight-man from 76 to 135 students.  The current top end number there is 150.  Class 1A would then see a drop of 15 students on the low end of the classification going from 151 to 136.  The purpose behind the plan is to keep the number of teams in each division relatively even with all others.

In hockey, there are no major changes under consideration but at the meeting, two new teams will be announced.  Mountain Vista and Resurrection Christian will field programs for the first time starting with the 2011-12 season.

TUESDAY

• The boys/girls basketball games between Fort Collins and Legacy have been postponed.  No official make-up date has been set but they’re shooting for either Thursday or Saturday of this week.
• The boys/girls basketball games between Lutheran-Parker and Nederland have been postponed.  They will be played on February17th.
• The boys/girls basketball games between Windsor and Sterling have been postponed.  The schools are still working on a new date but the games may be played on Wednesday.
• The boys/girls basketball games between Weld Central and Eaton have been postponed.  No makeup date has been announced.
• The boys/girls basketball games between Burlington and Goodland KS have been postponed and rescheduled for Saturday February 5th.
• The games between Pikes Peak Christian and Colorado D&B has been postponed and will be made up on Tuesday February 8th.
• The games between Berthoud and Highland have been postponed and moved to Wednesday February 2nd.
• Games between Crowley County and Hoehne have been postponed and rescheduled for February 12th at 1:00pm.
• Games between Brush and Estes Park have been postponed.  No make up date has been established.
• Games between Florence and Buena Vista have been postponed and moved to February 12th.
• The games between Wray and Chase County NE have been postponed.  The schools are still working on a reschedule date.
• Games between Fort Morgan and Frederick have been postponed.  No make up date has been determined.
• The boys basketball game between Karval and Granada has been postponed and has been rescheduled for Monday February 14th.

The semifinal games are slated for Friday, February 25, 2011, at 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., with the state championship game scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 3, 2011.

All games can be seen on CHSAA.tv.

Highlighting the agenda for the 67-member group’s first meeting of the school year are reports from the Budget/Property Administration (first reading), Classification and League Organizing, Officials Fees, Tournament and Playoff Finance, and Student Council committees, along with sports committee recommendations in Baseball, Cross Country, Field Hockey, Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Track & Field and Volleyball. The body will also consider 9 administrative proposals and 3 sport proposals. There are no constitutional, activity proposal or policy proposals on the docket for the meeting.

The sports advisory committee reports feature playoff formats for the second year of the 2011-2012 competitive cycle, but there may be some discussion generated by the administrative proposals. The CHSAA Executive Committee has forwarded several proposals that help clarify several sections of the CHSAA Transfer Rule. Under CHSAA rules, the Board of Control approves the work from the sport and activities committees on play-off formats and the like.

The following material provides highlights on the various proposals.

Constitutional Proposals (requires 2/3 vote for passage)

None Submitted

Administrative Proposals (Requires majority vote of those voting)

The 9 administrative proposals include:

ADM-1 – The Metropolitan League is recommending two classes in boys’ lacrosse, but leaving one class in girls’ lacrosse. There are 65 boys’ teams and 48 girls’ teams currently.

ADM-2 – The Denver Prep League is proposing adding a stipulation that a school could request to play down in a specific sport. The proposal sets out criteria for consideration for a second consecutive cycle playing down a classification.

ADM-3 – The Black Forest League is proposing that coaching registration requirements for Charter School coaches mirror those required of private schools.

ADM-4 – The Executive Committee is proposing a by-law that continues to clarify the requirements for coaches relative to concussion recognition and education.

ADM-5 – The Executive Committee is proposing language to strengthen the CHSAA “non-school coach” rule by cleaning up language and clarifying the by-law.

ADM-6 – The Executive Committee is proposing a change that helps clarify the penalty for a transfer that has been deemed athletic in nature.

ADM-7 – The Executive Committee is proposing a clarification of the bona fide family move by-law to match the wording of the “non-school coach” transfer rule.

ADM-8 – The Executive Committee is proposing a clarification of the by-law that affects the penalty for a student who is ejected from a contest for a conduct violation.

ADM-9 – The Mile High League is proposing that a school can determine, under its own policies, whether an ineligible player can sit on/in the team bench area during a game while serving his/her period of ineligibility.

Sports Proposals (Requires majority vote of those voting)

S-1 – The Jefferson County League is proposing a change in the start date for winter sports when December 1 falls on a Thursday. It ensures the same number of weekends in the winter sports season each year.

S-2 – The Jefferson County League is proposing adding a team to the camp scrimmage (from 3 to 4) when a team holds a summer camp on its campus.

S-3  – The Jefferson County League is proposing the establishment of a specific date (April 1) when middle school students who have completed the enrollment procedures at a member high school can have contact with coaches and players from that high school.

ACTIVITY PROPOSALS (Require majority vote for passage)

None Submitted

POLICY PROPOSALS (Require majority vote for passage)

None Submitted

Budget/Property Administration (First Reading)

The committee is recommending  a two year fee increase freeze. There was a $236,000 refund given to member schools in May 2010 as a result of a financially successful 2008-2009. $40,187 reimbursed to schools to cover 100% travel cost in those sports that could not reimburse last year. There will be no refund this May as a result of no operating profit in 2009-2010.

Classification and League Organizing Committee

The committee recommendations are: The Colorado Department of Education enrollment numbers will be used (if available at the time of the Fall CLOC meeting) to classify schools; Schools will be given the opportunity to apply to the CLOC for the deduction of certain students in exempt programs.  The exemption for programs must be requested and approved no later than the May CLOC meeting in odd numbered years;  Established new classification enrollment ranges for all sports and for football for the 2012-2014 classification cycle; Approved the membership of Southern Colorado Early College, KIPP: Denver Collegiate H.S., Vista Peak H.S., Aurora West College Preparatory Academy and William Smith H.S; and Approved to full membership status for the following new schools that have successfully served the three-year probationary period:  Discovery Canyon and The Vanguard School

Officials’ Fees

Major changes include: Only ONE driver will be paid mileage for each contest. Issues with multiple drivers must be solved between the officials and the assignor prior to the game. A rider fee of $10 is paid to officials, non-drivers only, who are riding on trips of 75 miles or more one-way; Officials Fees Report will be aligned with the competitive two-year cycles.

Sportsmanship

The committee is recommending that member schools form sportsmanship student advisory groups within their building.

Tournament & Playoff Finance

The committee is clarifying the transportation allowance for reimbursement when schools travel under or over 60 miles one way.

Baseball

The committee is recommending 1A and 2A District Pairing and Seeding Procedures that mirror those in basketball and volleyball.

The Mile High League is proposing an amendment that would change the 2A dates to match those of the 3A-5A playoffs starting in 2011.

Football

The committee is recommending: In Class A6, Arickaree will replace Aguilar in the Southwest Conference for one year; In Class A8, Miami-Yoder was moved from the I-70 Division to the Black Forest Division of the Eastern Conference; In Class 1A, several changes were made to the playoff selection and seeding process; In Class 2A, if opponents have an equal number of playoff home games, then the higher seed will host; In Class 4A, several changes were made to the playoff selection and seeding process; Mercy Rule – the mercy rule will now be applied at any point during the game if the point differential reaches 40 points or more (A6 – 45 points).  The rule will be in effect for the remainder of the game regardless of the score; The PAT (point after touchdown) is not required in contests where time has expired and the extra point does not factor in the outcome.

Soccer

The committee made the following recommendations: Listed as part of the seeding/pairing committee for the remaining 20 teams in 3A, 4A, 5A – The committee shall attempt to pair teams with the shortest possible distance between the teams in the first round.  The committee will look at the potential second round pairings travel due to rounds being two days apart; The committee will attempt not to pair teams in the first round that played each other during the regular season. Adjust qualifiers for the 2011 Boys’ season and 2012 Girls’ season.  EMAC (Skyline) league will qualify 5 teams and Southwest league will qualify 1 team.

Softball

No major changes from last year’s report

Volleyball

The Volleyball Committee major changes include: 3A-4A District alignment was modified as per the yearly rotation; District, Regional and State matches that have no bearing on the outcome of 1^st and 2^nd place will play the best two out of three sets (3^rd set to 25 – no cap); The State warm-up protocol will now be four minutes court time for the lower seeded team; the next four minutes court time for the higher seeded team; 1A-2A District pairing and seeding procedures were modified.

More detailed information on all committee reports and by-law proposals can be found at www.chsaa.org. Media and school members are encouraged to delve more deeply into the material for the upcoming Board of Control. Complete text of the Board of Control proposals and committee reports can be obtained on the Association’s website: www.chsaa.org.

CHSAA HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2010 INDUCTION CEREMONY

The CHSAA will hold its annual Hall of Fame banquet in advance of the meeting.  The banquet is scheduled for Wednesday, January 19 at the Red Lion Hotel Southeast (I-225 and Parker Road) beginning at 6:30 p.m. Joining the CHSAA Hall of Fame from the coaching ranks are Bob Bledsoe (Erie), Vic Garcia (Lewis-Palmer), Charlotte Jorgensen (Wray) and Bill Noxon (Fruita Monument/Grand Junction), student participant John Stearns (Thomas Jefferson) and long-time administrator Leslie Moore (Denver Public Schools). And, for the second time in the history of the CHSAA Hall of Fame, a boys’ basketball team from the past will be inducted.

The Association will also recognize the Colorado Coaches of Girls’ Sports with its Colorado Tradition Award, along with Maxine Ehrmann (Thornton) and Lynn Williams (Denver Public Schools) with the CHSAA Distinguished Service Award.

Seating information can be obtained at (303) 344-5050. Tickets are $45 per seat.

Public Invited To Speak Out For Activities

The CHSAA Board of Control invites anyone who is interested and wishes to address the body on high school activities issues to do so at the organization’s legislative meeting on Thursday, January 20, 2010, at the Red Lion Hotel Southeast (I-225 and Parker Road). The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. and the speakers will be first on the agenda.

Speakers will be allowed five minutes to address the Board of Control and then take questions from the membership.

Those interested in the Speak Out for Activities opportunity should contact CHSAA Assistant Commissioner Bethany Schott (303) 344-5050 by Friday, January 14.

Media Contact: Bert Borgmann, Lisa Cunningham Austin

Telephone: (303) 344-5050