Committee tables bill to shift Utah prep sports control from century-old association

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill seeking to shift control of high school sports from the nonprofit Utah High School Activities Association to the State Board of Education was put on hold Wednesday after a hearing in which only one person, outside of the sponsor, spoke in support of the idea.

The sponsor — Sen. Keith Grover, R-Provo — said he is hopeful that the 4-1 vote by the Senate Education Committee to hold the bill doesn't mean making a change to the way prep sports are administered is dead.

"I think we will have more conversation and dialogue," Grover said, noting that there was support in the Legislature for the change. "You're hearing opposition from all of the right people. Take notes on their comments. Frankly, we're looking for dialogue, but we're hearing some of these comments (that) have been made over the years, and changes have not been made.

"So I'm glad all of these comments are now on the record, and we'll see how people step up to the plate, because all is not well," he said. "And like my dad always said growing up on the farm, 'Hit pigeons flutter.'"

Grover's bill, SB271, would change a system that has been in place for nearly a century. Currently, high school sports are governed by a quasi-governmental nonprofit — the Utah High School Activities Association. The association comprises nearly 160 schools, public and private, and decisions are made by two governing bodies — the board of trustees and the executive committee. Schools pay membership dues of $75 per year, and, as members, have access to training, catastrophic insurance, officials, and a voice in creating and enforcing rules.

But Grover said the current system is a mystery to most parents. And that can make accountability elusive.

"This bill is seeking to be proactive and to look for solutions," Grover said. "It's not attacking the association, just saying, 'Hey, you can do this better.'"

The bill would create an Office of Interscholastic Activities that is responsible for drafting and enforcing rules for eligibility, transfers, recruiting and classification assignments. It would function as part of the State School Board, which Grover said would provide "more accountability and transparency."

Under this bill, the new office would also handle rule violations and appeals and "control media communications." The proposal establishes an advisory council made up of school representatives, athletic directors, coaches, parents and student athletes, and that group would draft rules and policies, hear appeals on eligibility and transfer disputes, and assign schools to regions and classifications.

The bill states that the current association can continue to manage day-to-day operations, such as scheduling tournaments, securing competition venues, and managing postseason tournaments. To do that, the current association would have to enter into a memorandum of understanding, and it would be barred from creating policy or participating in disciplinary hearings.

Grover said moving the bulk of the governing duties to the state government would increase accountability, though many details would still need to be worked out.

But some of the speakers said there is already accountability — to member schools, to parents and students, and to the State School Board.

Carol Lear, the school board liaison with the Utah High School Activities Association, said the working relationship between the association and the board is working well as it is. She said her first interactions with the association were in representing athletes and families.

"I wasn't always happy, but I felt like the experience was fair," she said. "I think this is a tight organization. I've rarely worked with the bureaucracy, and I've seen many in my day, that is so open to discussing rule changes, procedural changes, and fairness in their … overall organization. So I strongly support the UHSAA as it is."

The only person to speak in support of the bill was attorney Nathan Crane, who, like Lear, said he'd represented dozens of athletes across various sports in his 22 years as an attorney. Most recently, Crane represented Juan Diego High basketball coach Drew Trost in September when he was accused of recruiting international student athletes to the private school and offering them scholarships.

That hearing ended in a settlement after two days of testimony, and Trost admitted to undue influence in one case. His punishment was missing the first four games of the season, and shortly after the settlement and admission, Trost stepped down as assistant principal.

Crane said he felt the hearing process lacked due process and encouraged the committee to support the change.

While Grover said he sponsored the bill to be "proactive" about the issues trickling down from college athletics to high school sports, KSL obtained a copy of an email that indicated Juan Diego High Principal Galey Colosimo may have something to do with the timing.

The email from Colosimo, who committed to several institutional changes as part of the settlement involving Trost, was sent on Oct. 17, 2025 — just a few weeks later. The email was sent to Sen. Kirk Cullimore, Robyn Bagley (director of Utah Fits All), former House Speaker Greg Hughes, and Rep. Trevor Lee, and it was "an outline of how we would give structure to reforming the UHSAA using the North Carolina model."

In 2021, North Carolina legislators passed a bill that did essentially what Grover's bill proposes. Grover said he doesn't know Colosimo and wasn't involved in any discussion with him. He said Cullimore did ask him to consider sponsoring the legislation because he said he's experienced with complex, emotionally-charged issues.

In the email, Colosimo asks the others to forward the proposal to Sen. Dan McCay "because I only have his government email. If someone could forward this to his personal email, I would appreciate it."

When asked if that was an attempt to keep the discussions off the public's radar, Grover said he couldn't say because he wasn't included in the email and didn't know Colosimo.

Colosimo did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment.

Regardless of how the bill was conceived, it didn't have any public support in the hearing.

One parent who spoke asked why the Legislature would ask the State Board of Education to cut 5 percent from its budget, but spend more than $800,000 (the fiscal note) on creating an organization for sports that already exists.

Three members of the State Board of Education spoke, and all opposed the bill. They also said they hadn't had any discussions with Grover about the issues or proposed changes. Grover said he has talked with board members, but not those who attended Thursday's hearing.

Association members who spoke said they hadn't been contacted by Grover, either.

"We want to talk," said Luke Rasmussen, superintendent of Ogden School District and the chairman of the association's board of trustees. "We want to sit down. We have not been talked to about this bill. We haven't been consulted. Nobody's … sat down and explained the problems. And I think if you dig into this, you'll find that it's coming from a very small minority of people for a very specific reason."

He said they want to discuss issues rather than "getting to the point where legislation is just kind of dropped in our lap."

After Grover's summation, Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, made a motion to hold the bill and "hammer out" some of the issues raised during the public comments.

"Right now, I just don't think this bill is ready," she said.

This is one of three bills addressing issues in high school sports. One bill attempting to change the state's transfer rules was pulled from the agenda of a meeting on Tuesday.

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