With lawmakers moving to shift Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA), under a governor‑appointed board, Missouri’s basketball coaches are lining up in opposition.
Missouri Basketball Coaches Association executive director Denny Hunt told Missourinet he feels strongly that MSHSAA is doing a great job.
“Politicizing our activities association with our schools is not the direction we want to go,” said Hunt. “They’ve been doing a great job for 100 years now, and we just feel like that they need to continue to do so.”
Hunt said they have heard from high school coaches in North Carolina who went to a government appointed board.
“You know, if someone gets unhappy, they don’t call the activities association, they call their legislator,” said Hunt. “It goes from the top down. So, the wrong people are making the decisions about what should be conducted in the activity’s association throughout the course of the year.”
Hunt told Missourinet that this is a very unpopular move with school people.
“Parents should be worried about this too,” said Hunt. “They should be having that discussion with their legislators about what’s going on, because I know by and large they all want a fair shake. And so far, I think that that’s been going on and hopefully it continues to do so.”
Supporters of the bill say the shake‑up would bring more accountability to MSHSAA, especially after the Attorney General’s recent discrimination investigation, and they argue that a governor‑appointed board would give the public clearer oversight of how high‑school activities are run.
Sen. Jason Bean, R‑Holcomb and the bill’s sponsor in the Senate, said the goal isn’t to run MSHSAA but to give parents, students, coaches, and school districts a way to appeal decisions to an independent board.
https://www.senate.mo.gov/26info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=80
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