Part II By-Laws of the North Dakota High School Activities Association

Article V: Penalties¶

SECTION I: Expulsion:¶

A school may be expelled:

• If the superintendent or the principal is not responsible for the administration of the interscholastic activities of his school, or
• If it refuses to abide by the decisions of the Board.

SECTION II: Suspension:¶

A school may be suspended:

• For playing an ineligible player
• For failure to fulfill contracts
• For playing a suspended school or an ineligible non-member school
• For willful violation of the Constitution, By-Laws or regulations of the Association
• For unduly influencing a student to attend school or by offering or giving any remuneration either directly or indirectly to influence him/her to attend or his/her family to reside in a given district in order to establish the student's eligibility on the team or activities of the school
• For failure to submit annual reports
• For participating directly or indirectly in the management, supervision, player selection, coaching or promotion of bowl or all-star type athletic contests, or permitting any of its employees to participate in any way directly or indirectly in such a contest if the players have not yet graduated from high school at the time of the contest.

SECTION III: Forfeit of Games/Contests¶

• The deliberate or inadvertent use of an ineligible participant in a team sport/fine arts contest shall require the offending school to forfeit the contest(s) in which the ineligible participant participated.
• The deliberate or inadvertent use of an ineligible participant in individual sports/contests shall require the offending school to forfeit the matches won and/or points earned by the ineligible participant or by a relay team of which he/she was a member. The points contributed by an ineligible participant to his/her team score shall be deleted, and the contest score as well as any affected placements will be adjusted according to the rules of that sport.
• A school may be required to forfeit games for other violations of the Constitution, By-Laws or regulations of the Association. (Jan. 2008)

SECTION IV: Forfeit of Championship Rights:¶

A school may be required to forfeit championship rights:

• For playing ineligible players in any District, Regional or State Tournament or play-off, or;
• For any violation of the Constitution, By-Laws or regulations of the Association.

INTERPRETATIONS SECTIONS - I, II, III & IV of Article V - Penalties¶

These sections list the four possible penalties that may be applied to a member school for violations of the Constitution and By-Laws of the Association and the conditions under which these penalties may be applied. These penalties are expulsion, suspension, forfeit of games, forfeit of championship rights.

If a student who has been declared ineligible is permitted to participate in interscholastic competition because of a court restraining order and/or injunction against the school or NDHSAA and if such restraining order and/or injunction subsequently is voluntarily vacated, stayed, reversed or finally determined by the courts not to justify injunctive relief, one or more of the penalties in Part II, Article V, Sections I, II, III and IV above may be taken in the interest of restitution and fairness to other member schools. (Nov. 2018)

INTERPRETATIONS SECTION III a: Team Sports/Fine Arts Contests¶

• Sports such as soccer, football, hockey, volleyball, basketball, softball and baseball are classified as team sports for the enforcement of Section III a.
• Fine arts contests, such as plays, are included in Section III a.
• If the infraction occurs during a tournament, including a state championship, the offending school shall be replaced by its most recently defeated opponent. Opponents defeated/eliminated prior to the most recently defeated opponent shall not be entitled to relief other than an adjustment of any affected final placement.
• Team and/or individual awards shall be returned to the event sponsor.
• Team and/or individual records and performances shall be nullified
• The use of an ineligible participant in team sports/contests will require the participant to sit out the next regular scheduled contest at that level, in addition to the required forfeiture of the contest. If an individual exceeds daily participation limitations, the primary coach will be suspended for the next regular scheduled contest, not the individual. (Jun 17)
• Self-reported violations during the tournament will be dealt with immediately.
• Investigations of any allegations involving the use of an ineligible participant will not take place until after completion of the tournament. (Jan. 2008)

INTERPRETATIONS - SECTION III b: Individual Sports/Contests¶

• Sports such as cross country, wrestling, gymnastics, swimming and diving, track and field, golf and tennis are classified as individual sports for the enforcement of Section III b.
• Fine arts activities such as debate, speech, student congress and music are included in Section III b.
• If the infraction occurs during a tournament, including a state championship, the ineligible participant shall be replaced by his/her most recently defeated opponent or the next highest finisher. Contestants defeated/eliminated prior to the most recently defeated opponent shall not be entitled to relief other than an adjustment of any affected final placement.
• Individual awards earned by the ineligible participant and team awards, if necessary because of adjustments in the standings, shall be returned to the event sponsor.
• Individual records and performances by the ineligible participant shall be nullified.
• The use of an ineligible participant in individual sports/contests will require the participant to sit out the next regular scheduled contest at that level. If an individual exceeds daily participation limitations, the primary coach will be suspended for the next regular scheduled contest, not the individual. (June 2017)
• Self-reported violations during the tournament will be dealt with immediately.
• Investigations of any allegations involving the use of an ineligible participant will not take place until after completion of the tournament.

It should also be noted under Part Two, Article IV, Section IV, that a student who violates rules of the Association may be barred from participating in Association contests. (Jan. 2008)