The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors met for its regularly scheduled meeting at the IHSA office in Bloomington on Monday, April 14, 2025, where the Board announced a contract extension for the IHSA Softball State Finals to remain at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria through the 2028 state tournament.

“The Louisville Slugger complex in Peoria is the premier facility in the state for softball and has been an incredible host for the IHSA State Finals,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “We look forward to continuing to hold a memorable event for the competing student-athletes and coaches at a first-class facility. We are equally excited about the state final schedule format change in 2026, which we believe will place an even bigger spotlight on high school softball in the state.”

The IHSA Board of Directors announced in January of 2025 that softball and baseball will be moving from multi-weekend state final formats to single-weekend state final formats in each respective sport beginning in 2026. The move follows similar state final tournament schedule changes in basketball and soccer.

“The Louisville Slugger Sports Complex is excited to welcome back the IHSA State Finals for the 2026, 2027 and 2028 seasons,” said Louisville Slugger Sports Complex Director of Operations Gage Thompson. “The Louisville Slugger Sports Complex staff and our partners are honored to be able to host the best softball players in the State at OSF Healthcare Field. On behalf of our entire staff, we are beyond excited to continue this partnership with the IHSA.”

The Louisville Slugger Sports Complex, which opened in 2020, has hosted the IHSA Softball State Finals since 2021. The tradition of the Peoria area hosting the IHSA Softball State Finals dates back even further, as the Eastside Centre in East Peoria (2001-2020) and Mineral Park in Pekin (1976-2000 with exception of AA tourney in some years) each previously hosted as well.

"Discover Peoria is a proud partner of the IHSA and news like this further emphasizes our continued appreciation of the IHSA in Peoria," said Discover Peoria President and CEO J.D. Dalfonso. "We look forward to the opportunity to bring high school athletes, families, and schools to Peoria for the next three years at our world-class facility, the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex."


ACTION ITEMS
1. The Board approved a recommendation to post a job opening for a Coordinator of Special Programs position on the IHSA staff. Find more details here. 

2. The Board approved a recommendation to authorize the Executive Director to appoint member school Athletic Directors to serve as Tellers for IHSA Nominations, Elections and Proposals during the 2025-26 school year. Appointed individuals include:
              Nominations: Tony Bauman, Bloomington (H.S.)
              Elections: Nicolas Kearfott, Normal (Community)
              Proposals: Wes Temples, Normal (Community West)

3. The Board approved a recommendation to reemploy the Associate Executive Directors, Assistant Executive Directors, Director of Information Technology, and Executive Assistant.


APPEALS & ELIGIBILITY RULINGS
1. The Board sustained the Executive Director’s ruling on a student from Marian Central Catholic in Woodstock. The student was ruled ineligible for non-compliance with IHSA By-law 3.040.

2. The Board sustained the Executive Director’s ruling on a student from Christ Our Rock Lutheran in Centralia. The student was ruled ineligible for non-compliance with IHSA By-law 3.042.


DISCUSSION ITEMS
At each meeting of the Board of Directors, there are certain items the Board discusses, but upon which no action was taken or action may not be required. The following is a report of those items from the April 14, 2025, agenda:

1. The Board discussed enrollment variance requests from Crystal Lake South High School and Pleasant Plains High School. They took no action on the requests and discussed considering their requests within a broader framework of future Board Policy changes regarding enrollment variances. 

2. The Board reviewed and discussed correspondence from Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein, Timothy Christian High School in Elmhurst, and St. Laurence High School in Burbank related to the baseline criteria used to establish an opportunity to apply for a waiver of the 1.65 multiplier in boys and girls cross country, competitive cheerleading, and boys wrestling.

3. The board a heard a presentation and held a discussion with members of the Interscholastic Council of Private Schools (I-COPS) on the recent classification changes to Policy 17. I-COPS was represented at the meeting by Dan Hardwick from St. Francis High School in Wheaton, Brad Byrne from Wheaton Academy in West Chicago and Jim Prunty from Leo High School in Chicago.

4. The Board reviewed and discussed a proposal from the IHSA Wrestling Advisory Committee on the State Series schedule for the 2025-26 season. The Board took no action and directed the IHSA staff to use the 2025-26 State Series schedule that was approved and shared with member schools a year ago. The IHSA Board will review winter sport advisory committee recommendations at its meeting in June, but reviewed this proposal early in order to give schools preparation time in the event they had made a schedule change.