Missouri’s State High School Activities Association may be heading toward significant changes.
Governor Mike Kehoe said sports and other activities play a critical role in developing leadership and teamwork among students.
“That’s why the organizations overseeing these programs must operate with transparency and accountability, always putting students first,” said Kehoe. “This is not happening now, and I look forward to legislation establishing a governing oversight board for MSHSAA.”
Kehoe said he wants lawmakers to approve a plan that would replace MSHSAA’s school‑elected board with one appointed by the governor.
Kehoe said the goal is to ensure good governance.
“And ensuring that decisions impacting Missouri students and funded by Missouri taxpayers are made openly, fairly, and responsibly unelected bureaucrats cannot act like kings,” said Kehoe.”
Missouri House Representative Speaker Pro-Tem, Chad Perkins of R-Bowling Green fully supports the proposed changes.
“They use the name of Missouri in their title, by God they ought to be answerable to the state of Missouri,” said Perkins. “But right now, they’re answerable to no one. They think they are the king of high school sports in the state of Missouri and they’re not. MSHSAA doesn’t care about kids. It’s the most corrupt, despicable organization in the state of Missouri. And they need to be broken.”
State Senator Kurtis Gregory, a Republican from Marshall, told Missourinet that he’s already hearing concerns from back home from a few constituents, saying that government needs to stay completely out of MSHSAA.”
“I think that’s one that’s definitely going to receive a lot of scrutiny,” said Gregory. “I think you’re going to hear about a lot of frustrations and stories. Quite frankly, I look at the NCAA in the transfer portal right now with MSHSAA and some of the issues they’ve got going on like they could have adapted to some of the situations as opposed to letting them faster and get bigger. And then now you’re looking at government stepping in.”
MSHSAA said it’s aware of the proposals and plans to stay involved in the discussions. In a statement, the association says it will continue to engage with the legislature to pursue outcomes that best serve schools, students and communities.
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