Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association

Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association
Abbreviation	OSSAA
Motto	"Sportsmanship is everyone's responsibility"
Formation	1910
Type	Volunteer; NPO
Legal status	Association
Purpose/focus	Athletic/Educational
Headquarters	7300 N. Broadway Extension Oklahoma City, OK 73113
Region served	Oklahoma
Official languages	English
Executive Secretary	Ed Sheakley
Affiliations	National Federation of State High School Associations
Staff	15
Website	ossaa.com
Remarks	[phone]

The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA), is an organization which organizes secondary school activities at the state level, such as sports, speech tournaments, and music competitions. Derald Glover is its president. The OSSAA is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations.

History

In 1910, H.L. Hall, the principal of Shawnee High School, initiated the move to organize an athletic association to help schools to develop and administer interschool athletics. He was joined by Dr. H.H. Cloudman, Physical Director of Oklahoma City schools. In the spring of 1911 at the meeting of the Oklahoma Education Association held in Muskogee representatives of several state schools organized the Oklahoma High School Athletic Association. They included George Norris of Guthrie, Mr. Katz of Tulsa and A.J. Lovett of Blackwell. Hall and Cloudman served as officers.

The OHSAA began overseeing state high school athletics in the following fall.

In 1913 the president of the University of Oklahoma was given the authority to appoint a secretary-treasurer for the organization to serve with no pay. Then at the February meeting in 1925 the membership authorized the board of control to elect a full-time secretary with salary. P.A. Wallace was elected to this position but because there was not enough money to pay him he continued as a school employee. The office of treasurer was then created to handle the OHSAA's business.

In September 1927 the business office of the Association was moved to Oklahoma City and Lee K. Anderson was named Secretary. DeWitt Waller of Enid began as treasurer and served until 1953 when the duties of secretary and treasurer were combined under the title of commissioner.

The Association's constitution and rules were distributed to the schools, certificates of eligibility were furnished and a system of checking certificates inaugurated. The only state-wide activity sponsored by the Association was the basketball championships. The tournament in March 1928, with 16 boys and girls district representatives, was held at the Stockyards Coliseum in Oklahoma City under the direct supervision of the OHSSA staff for the first time.

Also in 1928, a training program for football and basketball officials was established. Compulsory enrollment of officials, examinations and rules meeting attendance were made requirements. An Athletic Benefit Plan was provided by the Association and later commercial companies were asked to give insurance coverage for athletic accidents.

Leon K. Higbie was named assistant executive officer in 1947.

In 1962 the membership voted to change the designation of the group to the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association which would then include not only athletics in Oklahoma's schools but also such interschool activities as band and drama. Two years later Ivan Evans was named as assistant executive officer then in 1967 Leo K. Higbie became executive secretary and Claud E. White assumed his place as assistant executive officer.

Embezzlement Scandal

Former executive secretary Danny Rennels plead guilty to embezzlement and agreed to repay $421,500 to OSSAA. He was charged with embezzling $457,000 to cover gambling debts.^[1]

Athletic Broadcasts

The OSSAA has an exclusive broadcast agreement with Fox Sports Oklahoma to broadcast state championship games. Fox Sports Oklahoma also broadcasts “OSSAA Championship Spotlight” periodically covering the full range of OSSAA athletic competition. ^[2]

Previously Championships were broadcast by KSBI and before that it was broadcast on The Cox Channel. ^[3] KSBI was awarded the contract in fall of 2005 for a three year period^[4]. The Cox Channel however can no longer be seen outside of the Oklahoma City or Tulsa areas since cox sold much of the territory in rural Oklahoma in 2006. ^[5] As a result FSOk is has a much greater reach than the Cox Channel, and FSOk also has greater broadcasting capabilities than KSBI did, resulting increased HD coverage of high school events.

External links

• Oklahoma Secondary School Athletic Association official website

References

1. ^ Oklahoman Danny Rennels pleads guilty in theft from OSSAA "The Oklahoman" September 25, 2009
2. ^ Media Notes: Fox Sports Oklahoma to air six state football finals NewsOK.com" December 8, 2010
3. ^ Logistics limit Coverage "NewsOk.com" March 7,2008
4. ^ http://www.hackneypublications.com/sla/archive/000392.php
5. ^ Cox Channel dropped from cable; ESPN Classic added "Enid News" December 30, 2006