[jeremy341a]

1. Protest Procedure (MSHSAA Board Policy): The Board of Directors adopted the following policy, March 1997,
to address protests. The Board acknowledges that mistakes are made by officials in judgment and even
sometimes in misapplication of game rules. However, the decisions rendered by officials at the contest site are
to be final and any further process other than the one outlined below would not truly serve a useful purpose in
the overall scope of high school athletics.
a. Within the procedures established within each individual sport rule code, the head coach must request a
review of an official’s application of a rule through appropriate channels.
b. If, after the review is complete, the coach still believes there has been a misapplication of a rule by a contest
official(s), the coach shall then file a formal verbal protest with the game officials who will then notify the
opposing coach immediately of the protest. A coach shall not protest a decision of judgment.
c. Following this notification of protest, the head coach shall be allowed approximately ten minutes to use
his/her National Federation Rules Book, National Federation Case Book, MSHSAA Rules Meeting
Announcements and/or MSHSAA Sport Manual to locate and show the game official(s) the appropriate rule
reference which clarifies a misapplication of the game rule. If the head coach does not have personal
copies of the above mentioned materials at the game site or the specific rule reference(s) or case book
play(s) cannot be located within the maximum allowable ten minutes, the protest shall automatically be
disallowed and the game shall continue from the point of interruption. If a rule reference(s) or case book
play(s) is found that indicates a misapplication of a rule has occurred, the official’s decision shall be
corrected at that time before any further action occurs, and the contest shall be resumed from the point of
interruption after the correction as provided in the contest rules. When appropriate, the game officials may
assist the head coach in locating appropriate rule and case book references.
d. All protests shall be resolved at the contest site before any further game action occurs.
e. Protests that are not filed in a timely manner by that sport rule code shall be automatically disallowed.
f. The MSHSAA Board of Directors and/or staff shall not review contest protests.
2. Application of Protest Procedure
a. Introduction: Protests rarely occur and the new protest procedure policy is not intended to increase the
frequency of protests. It is however, intended to resolve the protest on site. For this to occur the following
must take place:
i. Coaches and officials must be professional with each other. This should be a non-confrontational
conference.
ii. As stated above, protests involve application of rules only – not judgment calls. (Examples of items
which could be protested: Football – penalizing 5 yards instead of 15 yards; Wrestling – allowing one
minute for injury time instead of two minutes; Softball – allowing only two charged defensive
conferences instead of three.) (Examples of items which could not be protested: Football – pass
interference; Wrestling – stalling; Softball – out or safe calls.)
iii. Get It Right! If the official has made a mistake – admit it, correct it and move on.
Contest officials and the head coach filing the official protest shall notify the MSHSAA Office in writing of any
contest in which an official protest has occurred and the resolution of that protest. The MSHSAA Special Report
Forms shall be used for this purpose.
b. Process
i. Once a head coach has filed a formal verbal protest with the game officials, they shall then notify the
opposing head coach of the protest and the playing field, court, mat, etc. shall be cleared of all
participants and they shall report to their respective team bench areas.
ii. The head coach shall then be allowed approximately ten minutes to locate specific rule references from
the NFHS Rules Book, NFHS Case Book, MSHSAA Rules Meeting Announcements and/or MSHSAA
Sport Manual to substantiate the claim that a misapplication of a game rule has occurred. The game
officials shall also confer among themselves during the period to address the claim of the coach as to
the potential rule misapplication.
iii. If the head coach is able to produce rule evidence from the above mentioned sources to support the
claim of a misapplication of a game rule, the officials shall correct the error as provided in the contest
rules and the contest shall proceed from the point of interruption. If the head coach cannot produce the
evidence, the protest shall be disallowed and the contest shall continue from the point of interruption.
The previously mentioned materials must be immediately available for review at the playing field
sideline, courtside, mat side, etc. (Time shall not be provided to go to a locker room, team bus, coach’s
office, etc.)
3. Once the final decision regarding the protest has been rendered, the game officials shall provide the participants
sufficient opp