NSAA Board of Directors Meeting Minutes - August 19, 2026

The NSAA Board of Directors met on August 19, 2026 at the NSAA Office in Lincoln with the following members present:

Also in attendance: Brad Dirksen, Nebraska Department of Education liaison; Bobby Truhe, NSAA Legal Counsel.

The meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m.

1. Moved to nominate Troy Unzicker to serve as Chairperson of the Board. Motion Carried: 7-0 (Unzicker abstain)

2. Moved to nominate Dade McDonald as Vice Chairperson. Motion Carried: 7-0 (McDonald abstain)

3. Moved to approve the Consent Agenda. Items on the Consent Agenda included:

• Approval of the meeting Agenda as presented
• Approval of the Minutes of the May 22, 2026 Board of Directors meeting
• Approval of the Minutes of the May 29, 2026 Music Advisory Committee meeting
• Approval of the Minutes of the June 2, 2026 Play Production Committee meeting
• Approval of the Minutes of the June 5, 2026 Speech Committee meeting
• Approval of the Minutes of the June 10, 2026 Board of Directors meeting
• Approval of the Financial Statements
  
  
• Approval of the following new cooperative sponsorships for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years:
  • Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, Allen and Emerson-Hubbard for Girls Golf​
  • Pender and Bancroft-Rosalie for Girls Golf​
  • Blair and Fort Calhoun for Girls Golf​
  • Nebraska City and Lourdes Central Catholic for Girls Golf​
  • Freeman, Southern and Lewiston for Softball​
  • Omaha Mercy, Concordia Omaha, Omaha Brownell-Talbot and Omaha Christian for Softball​
  • Kearney Catholic and Amherst for Softball​
  • Adams Central and Sandy Creek for Softball​
  • Gering and Kimball for Softball​
  • Alliance, Bayard and Hemingford for Softball​
  • Pender and Wisner-Pilger for Softball​
  • Louisville and Conestoga for Softball​
  • Southern Valley and Alma for Softball​
  • Omaha Roncalli and Omaha Duchesne for Softball​
  • Ponca and Homer for Softball​
  • Omaha North and Omaha Benson for Boys Tennis​
  • Bertrand and Loomis for Boys Cross Country and Girls Cross Country​
  • Bloomfield and Wausa for Boys Cross Country and Girls Cross Country​
  • Humphrey and Lindsay Academy for Boys Cross Country, Girls Cross Country, Girls Golf and Play Production​
  • Nebraska City, Lourdes Central Catholic and Johnson-Brock for Boys Cross Country, Girls Cross Country, Boys Tennis and Softball​
  • Norfolk, Lutheran High Northeast and Norfolk Catholic for Girls Swimming​
  • Norfolk, Lutheran High Northeast, Norfolk Catholic and Wayne for Boys Swimming​
  • Columbus, Columbus Lakeview and Scotus Central Catholic for Boys Swimming and Girls Swimming​
  • Beatrice, Norris, Fairbury and Freeman for Boys Swimming and Girls Swimming​
  • Omaha Brownell-Talbot, Concordia Omaha, Omaha Mercy and Omaha Roncalli for Girls Swimming​
  • Elkhorn, Elkhorn North and Elkhorn South for Boys Swimming, Girls Swimming and Girls Wrestling​
  • Humphrey, Lindsay Academy and Leigh for Girls Wrestling​
  • Superior and Deshler for Boys Wrestling, Girls Wrestling, Boys Bowling and Girls Bowling​
  • Madison and Elgin Pope John for Boys Soccer​
  • Lutheran High Northeast and Norfolk Catholic for Girls Soccer​
  • Crete and Milford for Baseball​
  • Beatrice and Diller-Odell for Baseball​
  • Fremont, Fremont Bergan and Logan View for Boys Bowling and Girls Bowling
    ​
• Approval of the dissolution of the following cooperative sponsorships
  • Humphrey and Lindsay Academy for Girls Wrestling​
  • Loup County and Sargent for Instrumental Music and Vocal Music​

Motion Carried: 8-0

4. The Board was provided Conflict of Interest forms for their signature.

5. Moved to allow Executive Director Jennifer Schwartz to sign all documents, financial statements and reports relating to operations, investments, expenditures and receipts of the NSAA. Motion Carried: 8-0

6. Moved to approve the 2026-2027 NSAA Policy Manual. Motion Carried: 8-0

7. Moved to approve the Class B emerging district champion be seeded in the football playoffs based on wildcard points and not automatically assigned as the #16 seed. Motion Carried: 8-0

8. Moved to approve a change to the 2026 State Softball Championships schedule, moving Class A, B and C semifinals to Friday. Motion Carried: 8-0

9. Moved to approve a rotation to the State Volleyball Championships Finals schedule, with Classes D1 and D2, Classes C1 and C2 and Classes A and B rotating championship match times annually. Motion Carried; 8-0

10. Moved to approve the 2026 Fall Activity Manuals. Motion Carried: 8-0

11. Moved to approve the 2026-2027 Media Manual. Motion Carried: 8-0

12. Moved to approve the 2026-2027 Officials Manual. Motion Carried: 8-0

13. Moved to approve the 2026 Play Production Judges Manual. Motion Carried: 8-0

14. Moved to approve the 2026-2027 Speech Judges Manual. Motion Carried: 8-0

15. Moved to approve the 2026 District Music Financial Report. Motion Carried: 8-0

16. The Board entered closed session at 9:00 a.m. to hear an appeal from Douglas County West.

17. The Board exited closed session at 9:47 a.m.

18. The Board heard an appeal from Raymond Central.

19. The Board entered closed session at 10:10 a.m to hear appeals from Hershey, Raymond Central and Elkhorn North.

20. The Board exited closed session at 10:56 a.m.

21. The Board moved to enter executive session at 11:03 a.m. Motion Carried: 8-0

22. The Board moved to resume open session at 12:00 p.m. Motion Carried: 8-0

23. The Board moved to approve an increase in postseason officials and judges pay. Motion Carried: 8-0

24. The Board moved to approve a new structure to football playoff reimbursements, increasing the distribution of gate receipts to participating schools. The NSAA will only take 10% of gate receipts for catastrophic insurance. Motion Carried: 8-0

25. The Board moved to approve full color championship programs, beginning this year. Motion Carried; 8-0

26. The Board moved to allow Lincoln Standing Bear to opt-up in all activities for the 2026-27 school year. Motion Carried: 8-0

27. The Board moved to allow Howells-Dodge and Malcolm to opt-up in Play Production. Motion Carried: 8-0

28. The Board moved to accept the Executive Director's letter of resignation, effective after July 31, 2027, the end of her current contract. Motion Carried: 8-0

29. In the matter of the Douglas County West hearing, the Board moved to affirm the previous decision of a denied hardship waiver. Motion Carried: 8-0

30. In the matter of the Raymond Central hearing, the Board moved to affirm the previous decision of a denied hardship waiver. Motion Carried: 8-0

31. In the matter of the Hershey hearing, the Board moved to affirm the previous decision of a denied hardship waiver. Motion Carried: 6-0 (Abstain: Tobey & Unzicker)

32. In the matter of the Raymond Central hearing, the Board moved to affirm the previous decision of a denied hardship waiver. Motion Carried: 8-0

33. In the matter of the Elkhorn North hearing, the Board moved to affirm the previous decision of a denied hardship waiver. Motion Carried: 8-0

34. NSAA Staff Reports included the following informational items:

• A social media campaign will be utilized in the near future to continue to grow the partnership between the NSAA and Nebraska Strength & Conditioning
  
  
• The 2026 Officials Summit on August 1 had nearly 300 officials in attendance
  
  
• In the months of July and August, the NSAA Staff held seminars for new athletic directors and administrative assistants and launched "AD Corner" -- a video tutorial series

35. The Board moved to enter into executive session at 1:26 p.m. Motion Carried: 8-0

36. The Board moved to exit executive session at 3:14 p.m. Motion Carried: 8-0

37. The Board moved to approve the Executive Director hiring priorities and hiring timeline as amended. During this process, a Board of Directors alternate will replace a board member who applies for the position. Motion Carried: 8-0

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:16 p.m.

The next meeting of the NSAA Board of Directors will be September 17, 2026 at the NSAA Office in Lincoln.

Some other notes from this meeting per the Omaha World-Herald


- NSAA is hoping to have the next executive director hired by the December 10, 2026 Board meeting with a start date of August 1, 2027

- In football, all Class B playoff qualifiers will be seeded by the NSAA point system, including the winner of the "emerging district". Previously, the winner of this district was going to be the automatic #16 seed in the 16-team playoff. No at-large playoff teams will come from this district.

- The NSAA will now only keep 10% of gate receipts, after officials are paid, for football playoff games for catastrophic insurance. The remainder of gross receipts will go to the schools: 25% to the home school, expense reimbursement by formula or 10% of the gross -- whichever is greater -- to the visiting school and the remainder to be divided equally between the two schools

- The schedule of the state softball tournament has been adjusted so every team plays one game on the first day, a maximum of two games on the second day and the semifinals and if-necessary games will be played on the third day at the Smith Softball Complex in Hastings. The finals remain the following Monday at Nebraska's Bowlin Stadium in Lincoln.

- Classes will now rotate their championship games on the final day of the State Volleyball Tournament. In 2026, the schedule will be D1, D2, C1, C2, A and then B.