2014-15 NFHS SPIRIT RULES INTERPRETATIONS
Publisher's Note: The National Federation of State High School Associations is the only source of official high school interpretations. They do not set aside nor modify any rule. They are made and published by the NFHS in response to sitatuions presented. Robert B. Gardner, Publisher, NFHS Publications 2014.
CORRECTIONS TO RULES BOOK:
2.5.2 SITUATION B: should read as follows: A participant in a handstand on the performing surface: (a) is lifted, released and flipped by two bases, landing in a load; (b) is lifted into a prep by two bases who hold her arms and thighs; (c) hooks her legs over the shoulders of a base and transitions to a shoulder sit without assistance. RULING: (a) and (b) legal; (c) illegal.
3.4.2 SITUATION: should read as follows: A top person executes a forward suspended roll to the floor from a prop. She is assisted by (a) one post who is holding both hands of the top person and no spotter is present; (b) one post who is holding both hands of the top person with a spotter present; (c) two posts each holding one hand of the top person. RULING: (a) and (b) illegal; (c) legal.
Two resources interpreters and others will find helpful throughout the year:
SITUATION AND RULINGS:
SITUATION 1: A coach allows a team member to participate with jewelry in a mnew piercing because the parent insists. RULING: Illegal. (2.1.1 Situation)
SITUATION 2: A spirit team in shoulder stands is holding a sign for football players to run through. RULING: Illegal. COMMENT: The close proximity of other participants makes stunting in this situation unsafe. (2.1.5 Situation D)
SITUATION 3: A participant is wearing: (a) a watch; (b) post earrings covered by tape; (c) a religious medal on a chain; (d) a navel ring; (e) fish line or spacer through a piercing; (g) a dermal piercing without the jewelry adornment removed; (h) a gauge in a stretched ear piercing. RULING: All are illegal. COMMENT: (h) Participants may choose to cover the opening with tape after removing the gauge or jewelry.
SITUATION 4: Cheerleaders are wearing: (a) uniforms with rhinestones sewn, punched or flued on; (b) rhinestones woven into their hair; (c) rhinestones glued on their faces. RULING: (a) legal; (b) and (c) illegal. (2.3.1 Situation B)
SITUATION 5: Cheerleaders are wearing uniforms that have sheer, "see through" material around the midriff. RULING: Illegal. (2.3.6 Situation)
SITUATION 6: A participant wearing a brace that has been modified from the manufacturer's original design/production: (a) acts as a post during a suspended roll; (b) participates in a sideline chant. RULING: (a) illegal; (b) legal. COMMENT: (b) Participating in individual skills while wearing braces that have been altered from the manufacturer's design do not present risk to other participants. (2.3.8 Situation A)
SITUATION 7: A participant in a walking boot (a) bases a stunt; (b) spots a stunt; (c) executes a carthweel. RULING: (a) and (b) illegal; (c) legal. COMMENT: (c) Participating in individual skills while wearing a walking boot does not present risk to other participants. A medical professional is the appropriate person to determine whether such activities are safe for the injured participant. (2.3.8 Situation B)
SITUATION 8: A base is holding poms in one hand while: (a) supporting a top person in a prep; (b) holding a top person's hitched foot with his/her other hand. RULING: (a) illegal; (b) legal. (2.4.1 Situation B)
SITUATION 9: A spotter is standing slightly behind an extension and: (a) stays visually focused on the head and shoulders of the top person; (b) glances away for a moment to check other stunts; (c) hands a sign to the top person. RULING: (a) and (b) legal; (c) illegal. (2.4.5 Situation A)
SITUATION 10: A team executes a double base preop. A spotter holds the ankles of the top person while looking at the crowd. RULING: Legal. COMMENT: Spotting rules do not apply to stunts that do not require a spotter. (2.4.5 Situation B)
SITUATION 11: A top person: (a) in a basket toss drops her head back to the point her shoulders are below her waist; (b) is a bracer for a flip that starts on the floor. Her shoulders inadverently go below her waist as she reaches down to assist the top person. RULING: Both are illegal. (2.5.1 Situation)
SITUATION 12: Two participants are standing back to back with their arms hooked together. The base leans forward as the top person does a backward roll over the base's back and lands upright on the performing surface. RULING: Illegal. COMMENT: By facing away from the inverted top person, the base is not considered to be in a position to protect the head/neck. (2.5.2 Situation A)
SITUATION 13: A participant in a handstand on the performing surface: (a) is lifted, released and flipped by two bases, landing in a load; (b) is lifted into a prep by two bases who hold her arms and thighs; (c) hooks her legs over the shoulders of a base and transitions to a shoulder sit without assistance. RULING: (a) and (b) legal; (c) illegal. (2.5.2 Situation B)
SITUATION 14: Participants execute chorus line flips in which: (a) two performers lean against the outstretched interlocked arms of three bases/posts, and roll backwards over their arms; (b) three performers lean agains tthe outstretched interlocked arms of four bases/posts and roll as in (a). RULING: (a) legal; (b) illegal. COMMENT: (b) At least one base/post for each top person must have a free hand. (2.5.2 Situation C)
SITUATION 15: A top person in a prep is pushed above the bases' heads by the spotter/post. The top person immediately folds, rotates forward and is caught on her back in a pike position by the original bases. The bases/catchers do not have contact with her upper body as she initiates the inversion. RULING: Legal. COMMENT: Foldover stunts are the exception to the requirement for continuous upper body contact during an inversion. However, the catchers must still reach upward to acquire upper body contact prior to the catch. (2.5.2 SItuation D)
SITUATION 16: A top person in a prep is supported on her upper body by two bases. She executes (a) a back arch to a handstand on the floor; (b) a cartwheel to her feet on the floor. RULING: (a) illegal; (b) legal. (2.5.2 Situation E)
SITUATION 17: A top person is in a straddle sit with two bases and a spotter. She executes a suspended forward roll by: (a) grasping a hand of each base who assist her to the performing surface; (b) grasping a hand of each base who assist her to ta handstand position where she pauses before continuing to the performing surface: (c) grasps both hands of the spotter and, as the bases hold her feet, executes the roll by swinging down and back up to a prep. RULING: (a) legal; (b) and (c) illegal. COMMENT: (c) The feet/ankes of the top person must be released during a suspended roll (2.5.2 Situation F)
SITUATION 18: A top person in a flatback grasps the hands of a post standing at her head and executes a suspended backward roll. There are no spotters present. She (a) lands in a prep supported by two new bases; (b) lands on the performing surface; (c) releases one hand of the post and lands in a two-person cradle. RULING: (a) legal; (b) and (c) illegal. (2.5.2 Situation G)
SITUATION 19: A top person is supported by two bases in a shoulder-height handstand. The bases pop her and: (a) catch her in a cradle, assisted by a spotter; (b) assist her to an upright position on the performing surface: (c) assist her to a handstand on the performing surface; (d) catch her in a loading position. RULING: (a) and (b) legal; (c) and (d) illegal. (2.5.2 Situation H)
SITUATION 20: An inverted top person is upported by two bases who are holding her above their heads. The bases pop her and assist her to the performing surface. RULING: Illegal. COMMENT: Inverted partner stunts must not begin (or end) in an extended position. (2.5.2 Situation I)
SITUATION 21: A top person executes a forward flip in a layout position, assisted by two bracers, one on each side. (a) The bracers are facing away from the top person; (b) The bases and spotter intentionally toss the top person forward and step in front of the pyramid to catch her in a cradle. RULING: Both are illegal. (2.5.3 Situation A)
SITUATION 22: The top person in a multi-base extension executes a braced forward flip: (a) with a twist to a cradle; (b) to separate bases and spotter who are behind the top person; (c) to a prep with the original bases and spotter who then assist the top person to the performing surface. RULING: (a) and (b) illegal; (c) legal. (2.5.3 Situation B)
SITUATION 23: There are three original bases/spotters underneath a top person during a braced flip. (a) Two catch the top person in a prep while the third person spots the landing; (b) All three catch the top perosn in a cradle. RULING: Both are legal. COMMENT: All three bases/spotters are not required to actually catch the top person in a braced flip. One or two can actively assist/spot the landing. (2.5.3 Situation C)
SITUATION 24: There are three original bases/spotters underneath a top person during a braced flip. One base catches the top perosn in a liberty while the other two assist/spot, (a) standing with one spotter directly behind the other; (b) standing in a manner where both spotters have a direct path to the stunt. RULING: (a) illegal; (b) legal. (2.5.3 Situation D)
SITUATION 25: A top person holding a sign is transitioned to a prone position. (a) She holds the sign as she executes a forward roll dismount; (b) she drops the sign to the side before beginning a forward roll dismount. RULING: (a) illegal; (b) legal. (2.5.4 Situation)
SITUATION 26: The top person in a double-base prep falls forward while a spotter/post graps her ankles. She is caught on her upper body by the two original bases. RULING: Legal. (2.6.4 SItuation A)
SITUATION 27: The top person in an extension falls forward and: (a) is caught in a prone position by two new bases and a spotter who were in place prior to beginning the drop; (b) is caught in a horizontal position by two catchers and spotter who were behind the original bases and moved into position during the drop. RULING: (a) legal; (b) illegal. (2.6.4 Situation B)
SITUATION 28: A top person in a layout position is popped by bases and executes a log roll. The top person is braced by top persons in preps. RULING: Legal. COMMENT: Because the top persons in the preps are not released, they can brace the log roll. (2.7.5 SItuation B)
SITUATION 29: A top person in a cradle is popped to a: (a) double base prep; (b) prep level straddle sit. RULING: Both are legal. (2.7.7 SItuation)
SITUATION 30: A top person in an extension on the gymnasium floor executes: (a) a signle-twist to cradle; (b) a 1 1/4 twist to cradle; (c) a double twist to cradle. RULING: (a) and (b) legal; (c) illegal. COMMENT: The maximum number of rotations allowed is 1 1/4. A gym floor is considered to be an appropriate surface for twisting cradles. (2.9.8 SItuation A)
SITUATION 31: A top person in a front-facing stunt makes a 1 1/4 rotation to land facing to the side. The bases make a 1/4 turn to cradle the top person. RULING: Legal. COMMENT: The safety of a twisting cradle does not depend on the direction a top person is facing when the stunt begins. (2.9.8 Situation B)
SITUATION 32: A top person executes a forward suspended roll over a post to new catchers who: (a) have just released another top person to new catchers; (b) move to catch the top person after the suspended roll is initiated; (c) are in place and not involved with any other stunt. RULING: (a) and (b) illegal; (c) legal. (2.9.9 Situation)
SITUATION 33: A participant executes: (a) forward roll over a person on the floor; (b) a forward roll over a sign on the floor; (c) a cartwheel over a pom on the floor; (d) back handspring over a pom on the floor. RULING: (a), (b), and (c) legal; (d) illegal. (2.10.1 Situation B)
SITUATION 34: As a team executes knee drops: (a) their fingers brush the floor at the same time as their knees; (b) their hands take the weight of their bodies before their knees land on the floor; (c) they roll forward onto their knees: (d) they spiral downward before landing on the floor. RULING: (a) illegal; (b), (c) and (d) legal. (2.11.1 Situation B)
SITUATION 35: A dancer's hair is long and unsecured. She (a) executes a round-off back handspring; (b) is the top person in a triple base flatback; (c) executes a cartwheel; (d) is the top person in a thigh stand. RULING: (a) and (b) illegal; (c) and (d) legal. COMMENT: Long, unsecured hair is not appropriate for extended partner stunts/lifts and airborne tumbling. (3.1.3 Situation B)
SITUATION 36: A participant executes the following over a small prop that is lying on the floor: (a) back handspring; (b) forward roll; (c) cartwheel. RULING: (a) illegal; (b) and (c) legal. COMMENT: In this situation, the prop is not being used as a base. However, only non-aerial tumbling is allowed over a prop on the floor. (3.2.4 Situation)
SITUATION 37: A top person is moving her feet on a painter's scaffold on wheels that has bars across the back side. The spotter is standing (a) at the open front of the scaffold; (b) at the back of the scaffold behind the bars. RULING: (a) legal; (b) illegal. (3.3.1 SItuation)
SITUATION 38: A top person executes a forward suspended roll to the floor from a prop. She is assisted by: (a) one post who is holding both hands of the top person and no spotter is present; (b) one post who is holding both hands of the top person with a spotter present; (c) two posts each holding one hand of the top person. RULING: (a) and (b) illegal; (c) legal. (3.4.2 Situation)
SITUATION 39: As a team executes knee drops: (a) their fingers brush the floor at the same time as their knees; (b) their hands take the weight of their bodies before their knees land on the floor; (c) they roll forward onto their knees: (d) they spiral downward before landing on the floor. RULING: (a) illegal; (b), (c) and (d) legal. (3.5.1 Situation B)