2006-2007 MSHSL Athletic Rules and Policies Manual    (Revised 12/1/06)

 See the MSHSL Official Handbook Bylaw 501 for information regarding:

• Maximum Number of Contests

See the MSHSL Official Handbook Bylaw 502 for information regarding:

• Daily and Season Player Participation Limitations

See the MSHSL Official Handbook Bylaw 513 for information regarding the following:

• Contests

• Equipment Issued

• Last Date to Join a Team

• Practice Sessions before First Contest

• Season Begins

ELIGIBILITY DURING LEAGUE-SPONSORED TOURNAMENT (Subsection, Section & State) (Refer to Bylaw 206)
A student must be fully eligible under all local school district policies and MSHSL bylaws to be in uniform, occupy the bench or playing area, participate and receive individual and/or team awards.

CONTEST RULES (Refer to Bylaw 402)
Except as modified by the League, the National Collegiate Athletic Association rules book for the current year shall be the official game rules for all interscholastic contests in which League members participate.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION IN LEAGUE-SPONSORED TOURNAMENTS (Refer to Bylaw 405)
A. Team: A member school must schedule a minimum of three interscholastic varsity games, meets or matches to qualify for League-sponsored tournament participation in that sport.

B. Individual: A skier must compete in at least three (3) separate high school ski meets to be eligible to enter section competition.

C. Participation as a member of a school team will be counted if:

1. A skier who is a member of the school's JV or B-squad is promoted to membership to the Varsity and was in attendance at regularly scheduled school ski meets.
2. A skier is a regular member of the school team and failed to participate in the three required ski meets because of illness or injury, and a physician certifies in writing that the student was not permitted to participate.
3. A skier is a regular member of the school ski team and failed to participate in three (3) required ski meets because of extreme family emergencies, and the school principal certifies in writing that the student may be permitted to participate.

END OF SEASON (Refer to Bylaw 411)
A. Student Participation on a Non-School Team While the Season is Still in Progress:

1) The season shall end when the student or the student’s team has been eliminated from further participation in a League tournament series.
2) Students who have been eliminated from further participation in a League tournament series may participate as an individual or as a member of a non-school team in that sport.

B. School Team Practice and Competition:
The "end of season" shall be defined to be the last date of the state tournament in that sport.

1) Schools may continue to conduct practice and training for all squad members, including the students who have been eliminated from further individual competition in a League-sponsored series, until completion of the state tournament conducted by the League in that activity.
2) Dual contests may be scheduled after the start of the official League tournament series providing the school does not exceed the maximum number of games/matches/meets permitted in that activity.

C.      No school may engage in any meet or meets, practice, training or other activities between the end of the season and the opening of the next season.

D.      During the Summer Vacation Period (Bylaw 208 3 Non-School Competition and Training—Team and Individual Sports) members of a high school team may participate on a non-school team and they may receive coaching or training from a salaried or non-salaried member of the student’s sophomore, B-squad, junior varsity or varsity high school coaching staff in that sport provided the school has approved a summer coaching waiver for the coach or coaches of that sport.

See General Section of the Athletic Rules & Policies Manual for information regarding the following:

• Athletic Directors Checklist

• Coach's Responsibility: Student Eligibility Checklist

• Multiple-Level Teams at Sub-Varsity Level

• Official Squad Size

• Revenue Sharing Plan

• Substitution in MSHSL Tournaments

• Weather Conditions (heat, cold, lightning)

NORDIC SKI RULES MODIFICATIONS
The MSHSL rule modifications have been made to the NCAA Men's and Women's Skiing Rules which serve as the official rules for all interscholastic Nordic ski racing meets. The NCAA rules and modifications are equally applicable to the girls' and boys' skiing program.

OFFICIAL MSHSL POLICIES FOR THE CONDUCT OF BOYS' AND GIRLS' NORDIC SKI RACING

CONDUCT
All competitors are expected to conduct themselves in a sportsmanlike manner and to present a personal appearance that will reflect the highest credit upon the sport and their school. Competitors who bring discredit to their school or the sport may be disqualified from competition by a majority vote of the competition jury.

SPECTATORS
No person shall hinder any contestant in a Nordic ski race. Team representatives not competing shall observe the race only at designated areas controlled by a marshal appointed by the meet manager. Violations will be subject to review by the race committee.

VIDEO TAPING ANOTHER SCHOOL'S GAME
It shall be an ethical violation to tape another school's game, meet or contest without their permission.  Further it may be a violation of the laws governing copyrights.  Each school owns the copyrights to their games, meets and contests.  Taping another schools game without permission could constitute a violation of the copyright law.

UNIFORM REQUIREMENT
All team members and individual skiers shall compete in school-issued uniforms. Coaches are responsible for proper team attire and should encourage uniformity in team dress. Team uniforms should be appropriate to Nordic ski racing and shall not include advertisement of ski products of companies or other ski team names (i.e. U.S. Biathlon, foreign national teams, USSA divisional teams, etc.). All competitors are expected to present a personal appearance that will reflect the highest credit upon the sport and their school. No clothing, hats, or head gear displaying product, slogans, or graphic illustrations that are inappropriate to MSHSL principles will be acceptable.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR SECTION AND STATE NORDIC SKI RACING MEETS

OFFICIAL SQUAD
Seven (7) skiers and one (1) coach.

SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVE
Competing teams or individual contestants shall be accompanied by a member of a school’s administration, faculty or coaching staff. The individual shall be responsible to act on behalf of the member school.

COURSE LENGTH

Freestyle - 5 Kilometers
Classical - 5 Kilometers

SCORING
The scoring base is the point total that race results are scored from. The scoring base for the Section Meets is 100 unless your section exceeds 14 teams.  To determine the scoring base for more than 14 teams, count the total number teams in the meet multiplied by seven.  Example:  15 teams x 7 = 105.  This would be the point base for all races.  The scoring base is not affected if a skier does not show or finish the race.

SCORING PROCEDURE
The team score will be determined by totaling the points scored by the top four finishers in the pursuit event. The first-place finisher of the event receives the full value of the scoring base. Each successive finisher shall score one point less than the previous place. Each team member will hold his or her place in the final standing. In case of a tie, the skiers share the value of their positions. The team with the highest overall score shall be declared the winner. All skiers shall maintain their individual ranking. Teams with fewer than four (4) finishers shall be included in the team point totals.  At the State Meet non-team qualifiers will ski only as individuals and will not be included in the team scoring.

TIE BREAKER FOR TEAM SCORING
Combine the times of the four fastest finishers in the pursuit event. The team with the fastest time shall prevail.

If a tie still remains, go to the tied teams' fifth-place finishers in the pursuit event. The team with the highest score shall prevail.

If a tie still remains, go to the tied teams' sixth-place finishers in the pursuit event. The team with the highest score shall prevail.

If a tie still remains, go to the tied teams' seventh-place finishers in the pursuit event. The team with the highest score shall prevail.

ENTRIES FOR SECTION MEETS
Eight section meets will be conducted in boys' and girls' Nordic ski racing.

A. Each member school may enter a maximum of seven skiers. Each skier shall be eligible to ski in the pursuit event.

B. A team shall consist of a maximum of seven skiers.

SECTION MEET ENTRY FORMS
All information and instructions for section meets will come from the section meet manager.

ADVANCEMENT TO THE STATE BOYS' AND GIRLS' NORDIC SKI RACING MEET

A. Team:
The first-place team in each section meet shall advance to the state meet. A team shall consist of a maximum of seven skiers.

B. Individual - Pursuit:
The first eight (8) pursuit skiers not on the winning team shall advance to the state meet.

SECTION AWARDS

It is a violation of MSHSL policy for a member school or a representative of a member school to establish, distribute or accept any awards not provided by the MSHSL for section or state tournaments.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR SPECTATOR CONDUCT 
In order to elevate standards of sportsmanship and encourage the growth of responsible citizenship among the students, member schools, fans and school personnel, the MSHSL held a Sportsmanship Summit and asked student participants to identify behavior expectations they felt should be in place at every school event.

These minimum behavior expectations provide a foundation upon which member schools, conferences, administrative regions and the League’s Board of Directors can build specific guidelines for activities under their control.

MSHSL Bylaw 409, RESPONSIBILITY FOR PARTICIPATING TEAMS, STUDENTS AND SPECTATORS, speaks to this issue, directly, and Bylaw 409-2 specifically states that, “School officials shall be held responsible for the proper conduct of teams, team members, students and home spectators regardless of where the contest is being held.”

In all MSHSL activities, each participating school shall designate a person or persons from that school to serve as crowd control supervisors or chaperones.  MSHSL tournament staff may require school administrators to contact the tournament manager prior to the start of the tournament game so that they can be immediately contacted to respond to behavioral issues regarding their team members, students and/or spectators at the tournament site.  Each supervisor or chaperone should be immediately identifiable to the students and to the tournament site ushers and other security personnel.  This will help to coordinate crowd control between school supervisors and tournament site personnel.

MSHSL MINIMAL BEHAVIOR EXPECTATIONS FOR REGULAR AND POST-SEASON TOURNAMENT COMPETITIONS:

• Respect the American flag and the National Anthem.

• Spectators must wear clothing that covers the entire torso.  Those who do not comply or who wear clothing that is vulgar, obscene or that in some other way inappropriate, as determined by school/tournament personnel, will be removed from the arena/stadium if they do not cooperate with this behavior expectation.

• The use of appropriate language is expected at all times.  Profanity, negative chants, booing, trash talk, name calling, personal attacks or other acts of disrespect are unacceptable and must be immediately addressed by school and/or tournament administrators.

• Respect the game/contest.  Under no condition shall anyone other than the members of the official squad enter the playing surface.  No one may interfere with the contest in any way.

• Hand held signs, which do not obstruct the view of others, will be permitted provided they are in good taste.  Signs, message boards, “white” boards or other similar items contest/tournament officials deem to be in poor taste will be removed.

• Artificial noise makers (i.e. megaphones, cowbells, sirens, whistles, thunder sticks, and other similar items) are not allowed.

• Laser lights are strictly prohibited.

STATE NORDIC SKI RACING MEETS

Team photo of 1st place section winner requested for state program - STATE TOURNAMENT PROGRAM INFORMATION DEADLINES

STATE TOURNAMENT QUALIFYING SCHOOL INFORMATION
Specific information for qualifying schools is available on the MSHSL Administrative Web site under Nordic Ski Racing "Tournament Information."

DATES AND SITE
Friday, February 16, 2007, at Giants Ridge, Biwabik.

An awards ceremony will follow the final race.

STATE MEET ENTRIES
Team and individual members who participate in the section meet and advance to the state meet as an individual or team member are eligible for awards at the state meet.

STATE AWARDS