2008-2011 Strategic Plan

By Robert F. Kanaby, NFHS Executive Director and Ron Laird, NFHS President

The 2008-2011 Strategic Plan for the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) was approved by the NFHS Board of Directors at its April meeting and will be presented to the membership at the 89th Summer Meeting in Washington D.C.

The Strategic Plan, which provides a three-year road map for the organization, was formulated by the 27-member Strategic Planning Committee in January. It is the fifth three-year plan developed by the NFHS, and continues the organization in a planning mode that commenced with the first plan in 1996. The strategic planning process has served the NFHS well by providing representation from the membership with the opportunity to participate.

The committee developed 26 objectives to accomplish during the next three years. Fourteen of the 26 objectives were developed by the Operations Subcommittee, three by the Fiscal/Funding Subcommittee and nine by the National Presence Subcommittee. Each subcommittee also developed a number of tactics to help accomplish each objective.

Two objectives developed by the Operations Subcommittee dealt with NFHS sport rules: "Strive for consistency in the development of interscholastic sport rules" and "Provide leadership of the promulgation, dissemination and interpretation of rules for high school sports and activities ensuring fair play and minimization of risk to participants."

The tactics developed for the latter objective include experimenting with two-year rules books for a couple of sports. The selection of sports and the implementation date for the two-year rules books will be no later than 2009-10, and will be researched and established through staff input and Board action.

The Operations Subcommittee also developed two objectives dealing with the promotion of the educational NFHS message: "Provide necessary resources to enhance the NFHS Web site" and "Continue to promote the educational message of the NFHS through production of high quality media."

To enhance the NFHS Web site, the committee developed tactics to survey the membership to prioritize the needs and purposes of the Web site, create a Web site for students, and to explore multimedia promotion of the National High School Hall of Fame.

One of the three objectives developed by the Fiscal/Funding Subcommitee was to "continue to expand revenue through relevant marketing initiatives." The committee outlined eight tactics, including increasing potential for advertising and sponsorship through the enhanced Web site and providing NFHS materials in electronic and other formats for co-marketing use at the state level. The committee also developed a tactic to "increase revenue by providing an officials education program." The second objective developed is to "maintain fiscal security through a balanced budget."

The National Presence Subcommittee developed two of its nine objectives to maintain the position of the NFHS as the authority for interscholastic sports and fine arts: "Establish the NFHS as the pre-eminent authority on high school sports related injury data" and "Continue to be the national authority on rules governing interscholastic athletic and fine arts activities and enhance the efficiency of the NFHS rules committees."

Within the first objective, the committee developed four tactics including developing an injury surveillance system to provide data on all high school sports related injuries, expanding the current system that is focused on catastrophic injuries.

Another objective developed by the National Presence Subcommittee focused on promoting the educational message of interscholastic activity programs by "developing, marketing and monitoring interscholastic athletic and fine arts programs by conducting national events hosted by the NFHS."
The National Presence Subcommittee also developed an objective to "examine the feasibility of conducting invitational national championships and, if desired, forward an articulated plan for consideration by the NFHS membership." This objective will be considered by the Board of Directors by July 2009. Tactics developed for this objective include indentifying any NFHS bylaw changes required, considering a school year or non-school year date,defining/differentiating national event and national championships, considering athletic or activity programs for national championships and considering individual or team invitational national events/championships.

The Strategic Planning Committee was led by Dan Ross, commissioner of the Ohio High School Athletic Association. Mike Savage of Connecticut chaired the National Presence Subcommittee; Gary Tripp of New Mexico was chair of the Fiscal/Funding Subcommittee; and Ennis Proctor of Mississippi chaired the Operations Subcommittee.