CHAPEL HILL - The N.C. High School Athletic Association board of directors unanimously increased the penalty for players who willfully falsify eligibility documents during its annual spring meeting Wednesday.

Students who falsify eligibility documents will be ineligible for athletic participation at an NCHSAA school for 365 days.

The current rule is a one-for-one penalty -- for every game an ineligible player participates, the player must sit out one game after becoming eligible. NCHSAA rules do not now punish teams that use ineligible players if the players falsified documents and the schools took "reasonable care" in verifying the information.

The board did not change that, but instituted an educational program on eligibility issues for players, parents, coaches, athletic directors and other school officials.

Coaches of each team must attend a meeting on eligibility requirements each season. The meeting will cover all facets of eligibility, including residency, age, academic, physical examination and attendance requirements.

The NCHSAA staff is expected to develop a power point presentation for this fall, and later, a DVD.

The NCHSAA also is encouraging principals, guidance counselors and other school officials to become familiar with eligibility rules. The NCHSAA will develop an eligibility checklist and every team in each conference will receive a team roster and the listed address of each player.

Que Tucker, the NCHSAA deputy executive director, emphasized that eligibility involves far more than residency.

"Basically we had a handful of high profile cases, about five, that involved residency," Tucker said. "This is not a widespread problem, but we wanted to address it."

Tucker said far more students are ineligible because of academics, attendance and age.

As reported in The News & Observer on Monday, recent residency-related eligibility violations are a major reason the NCHSAA is seeking new ways to deal with eligibility rules. Fifty-four schools have been penalized by the association for using ineligible players during the 2007-08 school year.