Announcements

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors met at its regularly scheduled meeting at the IHSA office in Bloomington on Wednesday, October 10, 2018, where the Board announced new state final venues for IHSA Debate and Journalism.

The IHSA Debate State Finals return will return to Illinois State University (ISU) in 2019 when the event is contested on campus March 15-16. ISU previously hosted Debate from 2002 to 2006. The event was held at the University of Illinois at Springfield from 2014 to 2018.

"We are excited to bring the IHSA State Debate Finals back to ISU," said IHSA Assistant Executive Director Susie Knoblauch. "The ISU Forensics Union has a rich history and tradition. Under the leadership of the Director of Forensics, Meg Koch, along with the nationally recognized Redbird Speech and Debate teams, ISU can provide the support and resources necessary to continue to make the IHSA State Debate Finals a premiere event."

ISU's School of Communications and campus newspaper staff from The Vidette will have a hand in hosting the IHSA Journalism State Finals in 2019. The event will be held at Heartland Community College in Normal on April 26, with ISU staff handling the facilitation and tournament management. Eastern Illinois University hosted the state finals since its inception in 2006.

“We are appreciative of our neighbors at Heartland and ISU continuing to support IHSA activities and the IHSA mission in general,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “We value our affiliation with both great institutions and look forward to continuing to support each other in the Bloomington-Normal community.”

Both one-year contracts are for hosting during the 2018-19 school year. Journalism is expected to move from Heartland to ISU in 2020.


ACTION ITEMS
1. The Board conducted its annual election of officers, with the following results:
President: Tim McConnell, Erie High School
Vice-President: Robert Nolting, Andrew High School
Secretary: Katy Hasson, Rockridge High School

2. The Board approved a recommendation to appoint the following individual to fill a vacancy on the Legislative Commission:
District 15: Sean Foster, Bloomington (Central Catholic)

3. The Board approved a recommendation to approve the dissolution of a Girls Basketball cooperative agreement between Flanagan-Cornell High School and Streator Woodland High School.


ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
Minutes from all Advisory Committees can be viewed by clicking here.

1. The Board approved the consent items from the Advisory Committees in the following sports & activities: Girls Badminton, Boys & Girls Lacrosse, Baseball, Softball, Track & Field, Water Polo, Bass Fishing, Athletic Administrators, Athletes with Disabilities and News Media.

Consent items are recommendations that received approval from the sport/activity advisory committee, the Athletic Administrators Advisory Committee and the IHSA staff. Consent items can be viewed by clicking here.

Non-consent items are recommendations from sport or activity committees that did not receive a majority vote from the Athletic Advisory Committee or IHSA staff.

No Non-consent items were approved:

Some consent items of note include:

Boys & Girls Lacrosse
1. Sectional quarterfinal games will be moved from higher seed to two predetermined sites that will each host a doubleheader. This change will ease hosting conflicts and assigning officials.
2. The seeding deadline will be pushed back one week.

Softball
1. More scheduling flexibility provided for Sectional hosts.
2. Saturday State Final games start times moved up one hour.
3. State adoption added to change mercy rule to 15 runs after three and a half innings.

Boys & Girls Water Polo
1. The mercy rule will now be used in all regular-season games.


APPEALS & ELIGIBILITY RULINGS
1. The Board denied a request to grant an exception to the Swimming and Diving Terms and Conditions to allow a student-athlete from Jacksonville (Illinois School for the Visually Impaired) to participate in the Athletes with Disabilities division based upon a ruling by US Paralympics.

2. The Board modified the Executive Director’s ruling on a student from Edwardsville (Metro-East Lutheran). The student was originally ruled ineligible for non-compliance with IHSA By-law 3.034.3. The student is granted non-varsity eligibility only for the duration of the 2018-19 school year.

3. The Board sustained the Executive Director’s ruling on a student from Aurora (Metea Valley). The student was ruled ineligible for non-compliance with IHSA By-law 3.047.


DISCUSSION ITEMS
At each meeting of the Board of Directors, there are certain items the Board discusses, but upon which no action is taken. The following is a report of those items from the October 10, 2018, agenda:

1. The staff and Board of Directors welcomed new Board members Dr. Joyce Kenner of Chicago (Whitney Young) and Todd Rogers of Carterville.

2. The Board discussed the IHSA Golf State Final cuts that were recommended by the IHSA Golf Advisory Committee, and then approved by the IHSA Golf Advisory Committee, IHSA Athletic Advisory Committee, IHSA staff, and IHSA Board of Directors. The process began in December, 2017 and was approved by the Board on June 11, 2018. The Board asked that the IHSA Golf Advisory Committee discuss and reevaluate the procedure at their next meeting in December.

3. The Board discussed if and how socioeconomic factors should impact IHSA classification enrollments and reviewed similar policies used by other states. The topic will be included as a discussion item at the upcoming Town Hall/Principal Rules Meetings.

4. The Board heard a report from IHSA Football Advisory Committee members Andy Lutzenkirchen, the Athletic Director at Naperville Central, and Maroa-Forsyth football coach Josh Jostes. Lutzenkirchen and Jostes discussed the IHSA Football Advisory Committee proposal to change to a district scheduling format conducted by the IHSA with the intent of easing the difficulty of scheduling and preventing conference movement. The proposal will be a part of the annual by-law amendment proposal process in November.

5. The Board heard a report from the Executive Director on the NFHS Section IV Meeting which was held at the IHSA office September 20-21, 2018.

6. The Board heard a report from the Executive Director on the by-law proposals that have been submitted for the upcoming legislative process. The deadline to submit by-law amendment proposals is October 16, 2018.

7. The Board heard a report from the Executive Director on the IHSA New Administrators Workshop held at the IHSA office on September 26, 2018.

8. The Board heard a report from the Executive Director on the upcoming IADA Division Meetings. The IHSA will have a staff member at each meeting, which are scheduled on the following dates:
Division 1 – Oct. 17- 10:00 a.m. - De LaSalle High School
Division 7 – Oct. 22- 9:00 a.m. - Governor’s Run Golf Course, Carlyle
Division 4 – Oct. 23- 9:00 a.m. - Sterling High School
Division 6 – Oct. 23- 10:00 a.m. - Jacksonville High School
Division 5 – Oct. 24- 9:00 a.m. - BSN Sports, Rantoul
Division 2 – Oct. 25- 9:00 a.m. - Forest View Educational Center
Division 3 – Oct. 25- 1:00 p.m. - Homewood-Flossmoor High School

9. The Board heard a report from the Executive Director on the IHSA’s role in the recent IASA Conference in Springfield, as well as the IHSA’s plans at the upcoming IPA Conference in Springfield.

10. The Board discussed adapting the financial arrangements for the IHSA Boys & Girls Lacrosse State Finals with host Hinsdale Central High School.

11. The Board discussed the opening of the IHSA's Director of Information Technology position. Interested individuals can get more information on applying here. Assistant Executive Director Scott Johnson will work with the new hire for an indeterminate amount of time before officially retiring.