The AAA proposal could result in coaches and players being required to attend a sportsmanship course after being excluded from classes.

Athletes and coaches who misbehave enough to get thrown out of high school sports in the state could face more than just a brief suspension from their activities.

They will be required to attend an additional lesson if Proposition 4 is passed at the annual meeting of the Arkansas Activities Association’s governing body on Monday afternoon in Little Rock.

If the proposal is approved by a majority vote, players and coaches who are ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct would be required to successfully complete a National Federation of Secondary Schools sportsmanship course — as well as serve their suspension — before they are eligible to compete again.

“So now there are two penalties,” AAA executive director Lance Taylor said. “Because we want to teach them how to do things.”

The NFHS provides its members with a free 15-minute online sportsmanship course. Any player or coach who is ejected from a game and suspended from competition – with the exception of American football players who leave the game after receiving a targeting penalty – must take the course under the supervision of the school administration and pass a short test.

The proposal received a unanimous “Do Pass” recommendation from the AAA board. If approved, it would go into effect at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year.

“We did this in our survey questions in the spring,” Taylor said. “Over 80 percent of our schools support this idea. They think we have a problem and we need to go further.”

The first two proposals have the same theme – a postseason tournament championship – but focus on different sports. Proposal #1 focuses on baseball, while Proposal #2 focuses on softball.

Both proposals state that the higher seeded team in the championship match has the option to choose whether to be the home or away team. In the event that both teams have the same seeding, the winner of the coin toss has the right to make that decision.

“It’s nice to be the home team,” Mansfield softball coach Donnie Eveld said. “We’ve been fortunate to play in the state championship three of the last four years. We’ve been the visiting team twice and the home team once. If I had a preference, I’d like to be the home team. With two No. 1s, maybe a coin flip is the best way to do it.”

“As the visiting team, you want to get an early lead, while the home team can sit back and watch the game unfold. But the bottom line is that your team has to get 21 outs and score more runs than the other team.”

Taylor said the proposals have some issues, the biggest of which is when the coin toss will actually take place. In the case of state championship games, if the coin toss doesn’t happen before the game starts, those trying to broadcast the games will be in a mad rush to get everything ready for broadcast.

“Let’s say I play in the morning and you play in the evening,” Taylor said. “I’m not there. So it’s going to have to happen before the game because we’re both going to be there.”

“On the other hand, you can get lucky and host every year. That wouldn’t be fair to the other conference or region, because they also have the right to host. That’s why we have a rotating bracket. It might not be the best team at the top, but every two or four years your conference or region is at the top.”

Other proposals to be voted on Monday include:

Proposal No. 3 updates the AAA Handbook’s provisions regarding the responsibilities of school principals and superintendents in organizing the Games.

Proposition 5 concerns reporting of violations by member schools or involved officials. All complaints must be submitted in writing to the AAA Executive Director’s Office within 5 days of discovery of the violation. Complaints regarding team sports submitted after 7 days prior to the start of postseason tournaments “will be handled in the same manner as individual sports.”

Proposal No. 6 updates and clarifies the rules governing football and the possibility of players playing in school and club teams.