Proposal fails; Ford elected

INDIANAPOLIS — The length of junior varsity basketball games in Indiana will remain the same after a proposal by Jay County High School principal Phil Ford was voted down.
Ford, the president of the IHSAA Board of Directors, had proposed a change to allow seven-minute quarters for junior varsity boys and girls basketball games. The board voted against the proposal, 12-7.
Also, Ford was elected chairman of the IHSAA Executive Committee for the 2013-14 school year.
Junior varsity basketball games in Indiana are currently comprised of six-minute quarters. The proposed change was something Ford said he felt would benefit student athletes.
“Football and basketball aren’t the same, but in football … it advances with each grade level,” Ford said, noting that football teams play eight minutes or fewer in middle school, nine at the freshman level, 10 for junior varsity and 12 for varsity. “In basketball in Indiana we play six minute quarters clear up until (junior varsity). … I felt like if kids are putting the time and the effort and energy in to practice … they should be rewarded with extra opportunities to play.”
Another reason Ford said he was interested in making the change is that states bordering Indiana play longer quarters. Ohio plays seven-minute quarters at the junior varsity level, and Michigan plays eight-minute quarters.
Administrators who opposed the rule change, Ford said, were not interested in extending the length of junior varsity games.
“There may be other reasons. I haven’t really heard them,” Ford said. “I think that’s unfortunate.”
In its news release Monday, the IHSAA said it expects more discussion on the topic.
Ford is nearing the end of his second stint as the president of the IHSAA Board of Directors. Columbia City athletics director Geoff Penrod will succeed him in that position.
The executive committee meets monthly and organizes state tournaments, interprets IHSAA bylaws and determines penalties for rules violations.[[In-content Ad]]