TAMPA — On April 14, Gov. Rick Scott signed into law an education bill that, in part, established changes to the present structure of the Florida High School Athletic Association, forcing the organization to allow schools to opt-in to membership on a per-sport basis.
Now the FHSAA — which has been in charge of high school athletics in Florida since 1920 — is fighting back with what some are calling “retaliatory” policies, and state legislators are threatening to take action.
Before the passage of House Bill 7029, schools were required to be full members of the FHSAA for all the sports in which they competed. The legislation, which goes into effect July 1, states that not only can private schools now join on a per-sport basis, but the FHSAA “may not discourage a private school from simultaneously maintaining membership in another athletic association.”
