Rob Cuff took over as the executive director of the Utah High School Activities Association last June. Cuff is a former high school basketball coach, teacher and the longest tenured staff member at the UHSAA. The Richfield High graduate was hired as an associate director in 2001. The UHSAA oversees sanctioned high school sports for nearly 130 schools.
Question: In the first year, what's been the biggest issues you've faced?
Answer: Certainly, the number of transfers. In the 2009-10 school year, we handled 525 transfer requests and hearings. It's our most controversial issue. The constitution and by-laws committee has done an outstanding job coming up with the issues that needed to be addressed. They spent months conducting surveys of the schools, and now we have a proposed rule that we'll discuss next month. It isn't a perfect transfer rule. There has never been a perfect transfer rule. There are 51 associations (including Washington, D.C.) and there are 51 variations on the rule. And every few years, states face new challenges and have to deal with those.
Question: After transfers, what's been the second most critical issue?
Answer: Currently we're thinking outside the box on when it comes to realignment. We realized, through some recent discussions and hearings that there are some flaws in the realignment process. For one thing, we're addressing the data used because by the end of the process, it's about seven years old. We formed a committee to look at the issues headed by (Highland High principal) Paul Schulte and I'm really excited about some of those ideas.
Question: Sportsmanship has always been a focus of the UHSAA, but is it getting better or worse and any changes planned?
Answer: We are actually working on a sportsmanship initiative that Becky Anderson is spearheading. I think sportsmanship has been improving, and I think it needs to continue to improve. This is a program where every school can become a winner in sportsmanship. We'll have five-star schools in sportsmanship, and it's an honor they earn. I think it will be really fun while showcasing how important good sportsmanship is.
Question: Any new sports on the horizon?
A: Probably not. The Board of Trustees voted about a year ago, as part of trying to keep costs in check, to put a moratorium on new sports. So while there won't be any in the next year or so, there certainly are sports growing in popularity that I see becoming part of the association. Illinois just sanctioned Bass fishing. Here we have hockey, lacrosse, rodeo, bowling, rugby as some of the sports we've looked at sanctioning.
Question: Is the UHSAA the best organization to deal with the divisive issues of transfers, eligibility and moratoriums?
Answer: I have a terrific job. It's also very demanding and there are a lot of concerns, so many, in fact, we can't address them overnight. Little by little I think we're solving problems with the help of our membership. The association was created by the member schools to deal with extracurricular activities. We had a saying this year, "We are you and you are us." We can't do what we have to do without the help of coaches, athletic directors and administrators. We're here to facilitate, to be a resource but the schools need to communicate with us. We're one big team, and when we operate that way, we're much more effective. We think we have the best board (Board of Trustees) possible. It's elected officials, people who are on school boards, elected by the people in their areas to represent them. They are in the trenches, they know the issues. They see what happens on a day to day basis and then we come together to solve those issues together.