Texas Association Serves More Than 1,300 Schools

By Jennifer Searcy

The capital city of Austin, Texas is known for its country and blues music. It boasts the slogan of "live music capital of the world" and is home to legends such as Willie Nelson and the Dixie Chicks. But it is also the home of the University Interscholastic League (UIL).

Since its inception in 1913, the UIL has been located central to the University of Texas campus in Austin. The UIL is the product of two organizations formed in 1910. The Debating League of Texas became operational under the supervision of professor Dr. E.D. Shurter, and the Interscholastic Athletic Association was founded under the supervision of professor Charles Ramsdell.

After three years, the two organizations merged to form the UIL, which currently has more than 1,300 member public schools, including of two private schools, and is second in number of school membership to California.

Administrative Staff

Currently the UIL operates under the auspice of the Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement at the University of Texas. The UIL has a total of 50 staff members, including 19 administrative staffers.

Bill Farney is the UIL director and is responsible for all UIL administrative issues. Before becoming the UIL director in 1995, he was a coach, school administrator and superintendent and former UIL athletic director.

Charles Breithaupt is the assistant UIL director/athletic director. Before joining the UIL, he was a coach and school administrator. Breithaupt is responsible for overall UIL athletic and administrative issues, catastrophic injuries, football, track and field, reclassification and realignment and eligibility.

The associate athletic director is Cliff Odenwald. He is responsible for football, track and field, steroid testing, athletic rules and eligibility. Odenwald is a former college and high school coach and athletic director.

Rachel Harrison, Peter Contreras, Mark Cousins and Darryl Beasley are athletic coordinators and are collectively responsible for athletic rules and eligibility for different sports. Harrison is responsible for volleyball, girls basketball and track and field, and is a former UIL director of public information. Contreras oversees cross-country, swimming and diving, golf, softball, and is a former sports writer and college sports information director. Cousins oversees wrestling, soccer, baseball, and the no-pass-no-play policy and is a former UT-Austin athletic department assistant and assistant to UIL athletic director. Beasley is responsible for tennis, team tennis and boys basketball, and is a former college and high school coach and teacher.

Bonnie Northcutt is the director of policy, and was a former office manager and UIL assistant athletic director. She is responsible for eligibility, legislative council, rule proposals, state board of education issues, and the no-pass-no-play policy.

The director of academics is Treva Dayton. She is responsible for academic contests, academic eligibility, Student Activities Conference and Capital Conference. Dayton is a former educator, speech and debate coach, UIL speech director and NFHS assistant director.

Jana Riggins, Jeanne Acton-Shanks and David Trussell are assistant academic directors. Riggins is responsible for speech and debate and is a former educator. Acton-Shanks is responsible for journalism and is a former educator, journalism director and school administrator. Trussell is responsible for elementary/junior high academics, high school computer science and is a former technology coordinator and academic assistant.

Richard Floyd is the music director and is responsible for all UIL music contests, music eligibility and the no-pass-no-play pass. He is a former public school music educator, university professor and collegiate director of bands.

Luis Muñoz is the theatre director in charge of one-act plays. He is a former high school and university theatre director and television producer.

The director of public information is Kim Rogers. She is responsible for public and media relations, corporate sponsorships and publications. Rogers is a former public information officer.

The compliance officer is Ed Stidham. He is responsible for compliance issues and game violations. Stidham is a former coach, school administrator and school superintendent.

Eddie Wolski is the waiver officer and is responsible for four-year rule, parent residence rules, the over-age rule and previous athletic participation. He is a former coach and assistant director of Texas High School Coaches Association.

Dijaira Smith is the financial manager in charge of all financial affairs. She is a former financial analyst and cash management supervisor.

Kelly McCollum is the technology director and is responsible for internal computer systems maintenance and Web and data development projects. She is a former educational technology journalist, Web developer and technology coordinator.

Mission Statement

The UIL has a statement of purpose that focuses on the educational gain for students through the participation in extracurricular activities. The UIL believes that participation motivates students to place a high priority on attending and performing better in school and that the classroom is enriched by the flow of student energy caused by competition.

Governance

The UIL Legislative Council is comprised of 28 school superintendents or school administrators from across the state. Twenty are selected by their peers based on their geographic region and classification, and eight are at-large members appointed by the legislative council chair.

The Legislative Council meets twice a year; once in June to review proposals and rule changes, and once in October to vote on proposed rule changes.

Championship Competition

Every year, the UIL sponsors championship in 67 activities in academics, athletics and music. Fall state competitions include, boys and girls cross country, football, six-player football, boys and girls soccer and girls volleyball. In the winter, participants in boys and girls basketball, boys and girls swimming and diving, and boys and girls wrestling compete. The year ends with the spring competitions of baseball, boys and girls golf, softball, team tennis, boys and girls tennis singles and doubles, mixed doubles and boys and girls track and field.

Most sanctioned sports hold championships in five classifications, 1A-5A, determined by school enrollment. Exceptions are made for boys and girls basketball with six classifications, football and six-man football with 12, boys and girls soccer with two, swimming and diving with two, team tennis with two and wrestling with one for each gender.

Issues and Involvement

One of the main issues facing the UIL is steroid testing. As mandated by the Texas State Legislature, the UIL will test 40,000-50,000 student-athletes in grades 9-12 by the end of the 2008-09 school year. According to UIL director Bill Farney, this is the largest, most comprehensive steroid testing program in the country.

"With the number of student-athletes tested and the number of schools affected — 30 percent — we have put in place a testing program that encompasses not only typically male sports or championship teams, but every student-athlete in any sport at any level," Farney said. "This program will save lives."

Like most schools and state associations around the country, Farney said the UIL also faces budget problems and increasing expenditures.

"Keep in mind that the UIL has not increased membership fees to the schools and only keep 15 percent of gate receipts from the football and basketball playoff games," Farney said.

"We conducted a survey in the fall of 2004 and found that only 24 of our member schools charged a participation fee for students who participate in extracurricular activities," Farney said. "While that figure may have increased in the four years since that survey, we do not have a large number of schools involved in pay-to-play programs."

As its centennial celebration arrives for the 2009-10 school year, the UIL is proud of its involvement in the areas of health education, sportsmanship and scholar-athlete awards.

The UIL established a Medical Advisory Committee in the fall of 2001 to address the health and safety or the students and continually strives to protect the participants by requiring more stringent medical history forms and pre-participation physical examinations. There is also an entire section of the UIL Web site dedicated to health and safety issues, including a large portion on steroids.

Also, the UIL has partnered with a corporate sponsor to award $1,000 scholarships to student-athletes throughout the school year. Over the past five years, the scholar-athlete awards program has awarded more than $112,000 to students participating in UIL activities. Additionally, the UIL sponsors a sportsmanship award of $1,000 for one high school in each of the classifications for displaying exemplary sportsmanship.

Jennifer Searcy is a spring intern in the NFHS Publications/Communications Department. She is a junior at Franklin (Indiana) College majoring in journalism news editorial and public relations.