Janis Doleschal (contact by email) was the Commissioner of Sports and Athletics for the Milwaukee Public Schools from 1974 to 2002. Initially hired as a Co-Commissioner of Athletics, her first assignment was to develop the high school girls interscholastic athletic program. When her Co-Commissioner retired in 1986, she became the sole Commissioner. For approximately her last ten years at MPS, she was responsible for the administration of all high school interscholastic athletics and interscholastic academics as well as the pre-kindergarten through elderly sports programs in the Milwaukee Recreation Department of the school district. Ms. Doleschal has also served as either the Presenter or the Independent Hearing Officer for expulsion hearings for MPS for over twenty years. Upon her retirement from MPS in 2002, she conducted the “Start Playing Safe” program which offered free risk management assessments to high schools within the State of Wisconsin for ten years. She is an international lecturer in risk management, and has lectured in South Africa, the Hague and the UK as well as many national conferences in the U.S. She has served on numerous committees for the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, and on both the WIAA Advisory Council and Board of Control as well as serving on the Wisconsin Special Olympics Board of Directors. Her four degrees include an LLM in International Sports Law from Anglia Polytechnic University Law School in Chelmsford, England. She is also a Certified Athletic Administrator through the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. In 1997, she was elected Wisconsin Athletic Director of the Year and in 1999, Ms. Doleschal was inducted into the Wisconsin Sports Hall of Fame for her work as an athletic administrator. Recent honors include her induction into the Milwaukee Lutheran High School Athletic Hall of Fame and the Wisconsin Athletic Directors Hall of Fame, both in 2016.
In addition to her service to the National Sports Law Institute's Board of Advisors, Janis also supports the Janis Doleschal “Risk Management in Sport Writing Competition and Award”, for students within Marquette's Sports Law Program.
1. Marquette Sports Law Review article
- Janis K. Doleschal, Managing Risk in Interscholastic Athletic Programs: 14 Legal Duties of Care, 17 Marq. Sports L. Rev. 295 (2006)
2. Guidelines
- Guidelines for Completing a Parent-Athlete Handbook for High School Interscholastic Athletics
- Guidelines for Completing a Coaches Procedure Manual for High School Interscholastic Athletics
3. Forms and Checklists
- 14 Duties of Care
- Athletic Purchase Request Form
- Athletic Transportation Liability Waiver
- Authorization for Release of Medical Information
- Coach’s Checklist
- Coaches Procedure Manual Coaches Sign-Off Form
- Eligibility Requirements
- Emergency Contact Card
- Emergency Response Plan
- Expectations and Responsibilities of a Coach
- Heat Stress and Athletic Participation
- High School Athletic Permission Form
- Informed Consent Statement
- Opposite Gender Locker Room Supervision Sample Letter
- Parent/Coach Communication
- Parent-Athlete Handbook Sign-Off Form
- Parent-Athlete Handbook Sign-Off Form- Coaches
- Recognition, Management and Prevention of Cold Exposure
- Student/Athlete Satisfaction Survey
- Student-Athlete Accident Report
- Sudden Cardiac Death
- Ten Commandments of the Injured Athlete
- Ten Recommendations for Preventing Sexual Harassment