Returning and new DODDS-Pacific high school students will find an array of competitive interscholastic sports programs.

Regular seasons with season-ending DODDS-Pacific-sponsored Far East tournaments are offered for football, girls volleyball, tennis and cross country in the fall, boys and girls basketball and wrestling in winter and soccer in spring. Baseball, girls softball and track and field have seasons but no season-ending Far East tournaments.

DODDS-Japan schools are in two competitive traveling leagues, the DODDS-Japan league and the Kanto Plain Association of Secondary Schools, comprised of DODDS and Tokyo-area international schools.

DODDS schools in Korea compete with each other in football only. They play a full traveling schedule within the Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference in all other sports, including boys volleyball.

Within the Okinawa Activities Council, Kadena and Kubasaki play each other, the Okinawa Christian School International and Zion Christian Academy. Kadena and Kubasaki also face off against their Japanese counterparts on island.

Guam High is in the Independent Interscholastic Athletic Association of Guam, which operates a four-quarter sports schedule with seasons sometimes varying from year to year — meaning Guam High’s teams at times enter Far East tournaments scheduled well out of IIAAG’s regular season.

Unlike in the States, where eligibility rules vary by state, rules governing grades, physicals and conduct are standard throughout DODDS-Pacific.

Students take one physical exam before school begins; it’s good for the entire school year. A 2.0 grade-point average is required for eligibility. During each team’s season, grades for its members are checked at each school each week, said DODDS-Pacific Far East Activities Council chief Don Hobbs.

Athletes need a 2.0 and at most one F, he said. “If they have two Fs, it doesn’t matter if it’s 3.0; they’re ineligible. If they’re passing all their classes but have a 1.85, they’re ineligible.”

Students, parents, coaches, athletics directors and school administrations also each must sign a standards-of-conduct form before season’s start, ensuring that all parties understand behavioral requirements during the season and at Far East tournaments. Violators are flown back to their home schools at parents’ expense.

“There are certain standards that everybody is expected to behave by,” Hobbs said, adding that Far East tournaments get special emphasis. Tournament directors go over those standards with coaches at pre-tournament meetings and advise coaches and sponsors to reinforce the standards for their student-athletes.

The FEAC manual also includes a code of conduct to which students, parents and schools must agree, Hobbs said. Several schools also have their own codes governing overnight trips during regular seasons, he said.

Sometime in September, a Pacific interscholastic athletics policy will be issued to all schools detailing conduct standards during regular seasons and Far East events, Hobbs said.

Students wanting to play sports are charged no fee to sign up. Essential equipment also comes at no cost, although teams wishing to customize equipment may do so at their own expense.

Call for information

Sports sign-up deadlines, dates of physicals and other procedural information for students and parents varies from school to school. For information, call:

Guam High, DSN 349-5410.Kadena, Okinawa, DSN 634-1712 or 1216.Kubasaki, Okinawa, DSN 645-3728.Seoul American, DSN 738-6140.Osan American, South Korea, DSN 784-9098 or 9076.Taegu American, South Korea, DSN 768-9501.Yokota, Japan, DSN 225-7018.Nile C. Kinnick, Japan, DSN 243-7392.Zama American, Japan, DSN 263-3181.Robert D. Edgren, Japan, DSN 226-4377.Matthew C. Perry, Japan, DSN 253-5448.E.J. King, Japan, DSN 252-3059.—Stars and Stripes