Sportsmanship Expectations

We expect participants to be positive leaders of the student body.  To attain success you must discipline yourself in order to receive the maximum benefits possible as a TEAM and individual.  

Participation in activities should be a highly rewarding educational experience.  The satisfaction derived from participation and competition will help prepare you for life following graduation from Ogallala High School.  You owe it to yourself to do your best in the classroom, on the stage, courts, and fields during your four years at Ogallala High School.

As a PARTICIPANT you will:

• Be a positive leader and role model at all times.

• Willing to fulfill in-season expectations of your coach/sponsor, especially practices.

• Abide by a “Higher Standard” and follow the rules in this handbook.

• Treat teammates, coaches, and school personnel with respect at all times.

• Understand that winning is important, but playing by the rules and good sportsmanship are greater values.

Of the COACHES/SPONSORS:

• To emphasize the proper ideals of sportsmanship, ethical conduct, and fair play.

• To show cordial courtesy to visiting teams and officials.

• To continually update your knowledge and coaching techniques.

• To strive for victory through fair play according to the rules.

• To encourage leadership, use of initiative, and good judgment by players of the team.

• To do everything possible to encourage enthusiasm for the activity you supervise and promote involvement in the entire activities program.

• Before each season give copies of the practice schedule, game schedule, departure schedule, return schedule, philosophy sheet, and rules to participants, parents, and school administration.

• To promote your activity through the school and media through positive communication.  This includes turning in results, returning completed pre-season and postseason forms, and attending events related to your activity.

Of the PARENT/GUARDIAN:

• To take the time to read the Activity Handbook and understand the rules.

• To support success in all Ogallala High School Activities.

• To be a positive role model at games.

• To attend “Parent Meetings” held by each coach your student is involved with.

• To be supportive of your student for taking the time and effort to be involved.

• To remember that you are a parent, you are biased, and it is always better to take a day and think before reacting.

• Follow the “Chain of Command” when you have a concern.

• To accept our sincere thanks for letting your son/daughter be a part of the activities program at Ogallala High School.

Requirements for Participation

Prior to the start of each activity the student will participate in, the student will need to make sure that the following has been done:

• Physical Examination taken after May 1 of that current school year for students who will be in “Athletic” activities.  Each participant in athletics will take and pass a physical examination before starting practice.

• Release and Authorization Form is signed by the student and parent/guardian and on file in the Activities Office. (All Extra-Curricular)  No athlete will be allowed to begin practice until he or she has turned their signed physical examination-parental approval/consent form into his or her respective coaches.

• Consent to Test Form is signed by the student and parent/guardian and on file in the Activities Office. 

• Authorization and Acknowledgement Form is signed by the student and parent/guardian and on file in the Activities Office.

• Each participant in athletics will have their own insurance.  This insurance may be a family plan secured on the family’s own or one of the policies offered through the school.

• Student has purchased an Activity Ticket for the school year.   This is done in order to help defray expenses in the operation of the activity program.  The Activity Ticket will admit students to all home contests they are not involved in except Plays, SWC Tournaments, and NSAA District/State Events.  (Fine Art/Athletic)

• Be released from the previous activity.  This includes turning in all equipment and uniforms or paying fines for lost items.

NEBRASKA STATE ACTIVITY ASSOCIATION RULES

Eligibility

In order to represent a high school in interscholastic athletic competition, a student must abide by eligibility rules of the Nebraska School Activities Association. Eligibility requirements are established by the NSAA in its Constitution and its Bylaws and Approved Rulings. These documents can be found online at https://nsaahome.org/constitution-bylaws/. A summary of the major rules is given below. Contact the principal, activities director or the activity sponsor or coach for an expectation of the complete rules.

1. Student must be a bona fide student of their member school and have not graduated from any high school.

2. After a student's initial enrollment in grade nine, he/she shall be ineligible after eight semesters of school membership beginning with his/her enrollment in grade nine.

3. Student is ineligible if nineteen years of age before August 1 of current school year.  (Student in grades 7 or 8 may participate on a high school team if he/she was 15 years of age prior to August 1 of current school year.)

4. Student must be enrolled in some high school on or before the eleventh school day of the current semester.

5. Student must be continually enrolled in at least twenty credit hours per semester and regular in attendance, in accordance with the school's attendance policy at the school he/she wishes to represent in interscholastic competition. 

6. Student must have been enrolled and received twenty hours of credit in school the immediate preceding semester. 

7. Guardianship does not fulfill the definition of a legal parent.  If a guardian has been appointed for a student, the student is eligible in the school district where his/her legal parent(s) have their domicile.  Individual situations involving guardianship may be submitted to the Executive Director for review and a ruling.

8. A student entering grade nine for the first time after being promoted from grade eight of a two-year junior high, or a three-year middle school, or entering a high school for the first time after being promoted to grade ten from a three-year junior high school is eligible.  After a student makes an initial choice of high schools, any subsequent transfer, unless there has been a change of domicile by his/her parents, shall render the student ineligible for ninety school days.  If a student has participated on a high school team at any level as a seventh, eight, or ninth grade student, he/she has established his/her eligibility at the high school where he/she participated.  If the student elects to attend another high school upon entering ninth or tenth grade, he/she shall be ineligible for ninety school days. 

9. Student eligibility related to domicile can be attained in the following manners:

   1. a. If the change in domicile by the parents occurs during a school year, the student may remain at the school he/she is attending and be eligible until the end of the school year or transfer to a high school located in the school district where the parents established their domicile and be eligible.

   2. b. If the domicile is changed during the summer months and the student is in grade twelve and the student has attended the high school for two or more years, the student may remain at the high school he/she has been attending and retain eligibility.

   3. c. If a student elects to remain at the same high school initially enrolled after being promoted from grade eight of a middle or junior high school, or grade nine of a junior high school, he/she is eligible at that school, or is eligible at a high school located within the school district in which the parents established their domicile.

   4. d. If the legal parents of a student change their domicile from one school district that has a high school to another school district that has a high school, the student shall be eligible immediately in the school district where the parents established their domicile.

10. Nebraska transfer students whose name appears on the NSAA transfer list prior to May 1 shall be eligible immediately in the fall at the transfer high school.  Those students whose name does not appear on the NSAA transfer list prior to May 1 shall be ineligible for ninety school days, with such transfers being subject to hardship waiver guidelines.

11. Nebraska transfer students must have signed and delivered all forms necessary to make such transfer to the school in which he/she intends to enroll for the 2020-21 school year prior to May 1, 2020; for the student to be eligible, the school to which the transfer is being made must have notified the NSAA office via an NSAA online transfer form, no later than May 1, 2020.  The student would become ineligible for ninety school days the next fall if the student were to change his/her mind and decide not to transfer.  If such student were to transfer to the new school, but later decides to return to his/her former district before 90 school days have elapsed, such student will be ineligible in the former district for 90 school days, with the ineligibility period commencing at the start of the fall semester.  Those students who did not have their enrollment forms signed, delivered, and accepted prior to May 1, 2020, shall be ineligible for ninety school days, with such transfers being subject to hardship waiver guidelines.

12. Once the season of a sport begins, a student shall participate in practices and compete only in athletic contests/meets in that sport, which are scheduled by his/her school.  Any other competition will render the student ineligible for a portion of, or all of, the season in that sport.  The season of a sport begins with the first date of practice as permitted by NSAA rules.

13. During the season of a particular sport, athletes participating in that sport for a high school may attend, but may not physically take part, either as an individual or as a member of a team, in the sport activity in which instruction is being offered in the clinic, camp, or school.  (*Refer to NSAA Bylaw 3.5.1.1 for exception in Swimming and Diving.)

14. A student shall not participate on an all-star team while a high school undergraduate.

15. A student must maintain his/her amateur status.

16. Meet Ogallala High School Academic Eligibility. (See Page #10)

17. Not under suspension due to Code of Conduct Violation at Ogallala High School, Ogallala Middle School, or school attended prior to enrolling at Ogallala High School.

    
    

All extra-curricular activities and participants sponsored by Ogallala High School will be required to follow the above policy. Failure to do so will be met with serious consequences.

1. Participating while ineligible will carry a two-week suspension from that activity,  

      forfeiture of any individual medals or awards, and forfeiture of that team or group  

standing in the event. 

2. All other situations will be handled at the discretion of the Administration.

   
   

Ineligibility prevents student participation in the following events:

1. Athletic Contests against another school.

2. Travel with a team, club, organization, or group that requires missing any part of the academic school day.

3. Participation in competitions, performances, contests, tours, clinics, etc. related to fine arts, clubs, or academic groups.

4. Field trips of a non-academic nature or if it is ruled by the administration it is in the best academic interest of the student to remain in school.

Ineligibility does not prevent student participation in the following events:

1. School social events.  Including Pep Rallies.

2. Initiations to school organizations.

3. Practice with a team or group.

4. Club/organization meetings.