>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

High school athletic directors across Oregon will soon have Larry Glaze’s phone number on speed dial.

Glaze, superintendent of the Elgin School District, can count on receiving more phone calls, letters and e-mails after taking an influential position on the Oregon high school sports and activities front.

Glaze has been elected to the executive board of the Oregon School Activities Association. The OSAA is the governing body of high school athletics in Oregon and also conducts state championships for band, choir and speech.

Glaze was elected to a seat representing high schools in the 2A (116-235 student) classification. Elgin High School, which Glaze is principal of, is a 2A school with 150 students.

Glaze is completing his first year as Elgin superintendent. He has been an educator in Oregon for three decades. He came to Elgin after serving as superintendent of the Gervais School District in the Willamette Valley for four years. Glaze was an administrator and educator in Union County from 1983 to 2003 before taking the Gervais position.

He has an extensive background in middle and high school athletics, having served as the head baseball coach at Union High School where he was also a junior varsity basketball coach; the athletic director at Neahkahnie High School in Tillamook County; a middle school football and basketball coach in the Vale School District; and in other athletic leadership positions.

“I’ve always enjoyed coaching,’’ Glaze said. “ Sports and activities play an important role in the development of young people.’’

Glaze is a 1974 graduate of EOU who played for the Mountaineers’ varsity baseball team. He was named Eastern’s outstanding scholar athlete in 1974.

Don Grotting, superintendent of the Nyssa School District, nominated Glaze for the executive board position. Glaze was then elected by a vote of the OSAA’s delegate assembly.

“I think he will be a real asset to the organization,’’ Grotting said.

The Nyssa educator listed Glaze’s knowledge of high school athletics as well as his honesty, integrity and understanding of issues facing high schools in Eastern and Western Oregon as the reasons he nominated him.

“His knowledge of athletics on both sides of the state is a real asset,’’ said Grotting, an OSAA Executive Board member.

Grotting will leave the board in June after serving on it for six years.

Issues the OSAA Executive Board will soon be addressing include health and safety, Grotting said. The OSAA is considering adopting new rules regarding procedures that should be followed after an athlete suffers a concussion. One proposed rule would require any athlete suffering a concussion to receive clearance from a physician before being allowed to play again.

The OSAA will also be addressing enrollment cutoffs for high school classifications. The OSAA is considering altering these because of enrollment changes at high schools.

“This is important to maintain (competitive) parity,’’ Grotting said.

Other issues the executive board will be addressing include a proposal to raise eligibility standards for student participation in OSAA sanctioned activities and the adoption of new rules promoting sportsmanship.

Glaze will be one of three executive board members from Eastern Oregon. The others are Jack Henderson of Dufur and Dave Courtney of Burns. Grotting said it is critical that Eastern Oregon continue to be represented on the board. The Nyssa superintendent explained many people in Western Oregon have no understanding of travel and weather issues facing high schools on the east side.

Grotting noted that people regard Bend as part of Eastern Oregon. To make his point Grotting told of someone in Western Oregon who informed him of a meeting in Bend he needed to attend. The man spoke like Nyssa was next door to Bend when in fact it is a five-hour drive away, Grotting said.

Glaze agrees that people have a different perspective about weather and travel on the west side of the state. He said a three-hour bus trip to a game is considered long in Western Oregon but short in Eastern Oregon where five-hour trips are often the norm.

The Elgin superintendent, who grew up in Eugene where he played baseball at Sheldon High School, has been elected to a three-year term on the OSAA Executive Board. His term begins June 15. Serving on the board will be demanding but Glaze is excited about the challenge.

“I want to give back to Oregon athletics for kids. I want to make sure kids have the same opportunities I did.’’