A push for shot clocks to be used in Florida high school boys and girls varsity basketball games hit a snag Wednesday morning.
A panel of athletic directors narrowly voted 8-7 to not endorse the recommendation following an hour-long discussion during the Florida High School Athletic Association’s online winter sports advisory committee meeting.
In other business, the committee voted in favor of revising how playoff teams are seeded for region tournaments and approved an increase in medals awarded during state wrestling competition.
Wednesday marked the first official reading by the committee on a proposal to utilize a 30-second shot clock for basketball. Despite the outcome, the committee’s decision does not end the debate. Several athletics directors on the panel acknowledged the inevitability of adding shot clocks while asking that more research be conducted before moving in that direction.
Concerns over the cost of installing shot clocks, and the additional cost associated with hiring a fourth official or securing qualified volunteers in the more than 700 member schools to operate them, was at the center of conversation.
The conversation was complicated by the fact that revenue generated by high school athletic programs throughout the state during the 2020-21 school year has been limited due to spectator capacity mandates at games because of COVID-19 precautions.
“Finances are a huge concern right now for everybody,” Orange County Public Schools athletics director Doug Patterson said. “Everybody’s got different scoreboards and everybody has different ways that this can be executed, but from a volunteer standpoint, being a district of soon-to-be 22 schools, we are different all the way across the board.”
Tallahassee Florida High boys basketball coach Charlie Ward, a former Florida State and NBA player, mapped out a three-year pilot plan that would allow time for member schools to have shot clocks in place by the 2024-25 season. His proposal mirrors one approved in Georgia in 2020.
Ward mentioned price points for shot clocks that ranged from $1,775 to $2,375, as provided by a Daktronics national sales representative, and recommended training courses for individuals who would operate the clocks.
“I know there are pros and cons, just like anything that is new,” Ward said. “But there is nothing wrong with wanting to improve the game to make it more exciting for the players, the coaches and the fans.”
Ward noted that nine states currently play under a high school basketball shot clock, and that, “a lot of other states are experimenting with it.”
Fully committing to shot clocks would cause states to lose a seat on the National Federation of State High School Associations basketball rules committee.
But even members of the NFHS seem to be warming up to the idea, according to FHSAA director of athletics Ed Thompson.
“It continues to be a hot topic for the sport,” Thompson said of conversations he has had at national meetings.
The FHSAA basketball advisory committee supported the implementation of shot clocks last month by an 8-1 vote. The FHSAA had previously permitted member schools to use shot clocks during preseason and regular-season tournaments on a case-by-case experimental basis before moving to a playoff ranking system that required all programs to play under the same rules.
“I’ve got a small school with less than 250 kids and most of the time I’m running the {game] clock,” said Bradenton Saint Stephen’s Episcopal athletic director Lenny Paoletti. “I just can’t imagine getting a dedicated volunteer to run a shot clock. This would cripple small schools. Not just the cost, but the implementation and the play.”
The soccer coaches advisory committee inspired a change in region tournament pairings for all team sports when it proposed a plan to seed playoff teams one through eight based strictly off of FHSAA power ratings.
The change, which was approved overwhelmingly, would still give district champions an automatic berth into the postseason but would no longer guarantee those teams a top-four seed and a home playoff game in the quarterfinal round.
The new format must first gain approval through other committees and the FHSAA board of directors before being put in place. Sports that would be affected include football, volleyball, basketball, soccer, baseball and softball.
The decision to increase the state championship medal count to eight recipients per weight class in wrestling puts the sport on par with others such as track and field.
FHSAA director of athletics Robbie Lindeman also noted that discussions are underway about hosting both the boys and girls state wrestling tournaments during the same week in 2021-22 at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee. The girls wrestling tournament will be the first for the FHSAA.
This article originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email J.C. Carnahan at jcarnahan@orlandosentinel.com.
