Announcements

Sadly, incidents of violence marred a few high school sporting events around the country over the weekend. Illinois was not immune, as two IHSA football games were interrupted by criminal events that transpired in nearby neighborhoods.

The IHSA would like to take a moment to thank all of the individuals, both school personnel and local law enforcement and first responders, who work to protect our student-athletes, coaches, officials and fans at high school events. High school sports are the purest form of athletics and deserve to be enjoyed and celebrated in a safe and collegial atmosphere.

The IHSA is proud of the diversity of our membership, as our 800+ member schools can be found in small towns and big cities across Illinois. Thousands upon thousands of IHSA events in all sports are conducted at these schools year after year without incident, however, we too often let a single incident unrelated to a game or school create an unfair legacy.

We have followed up with the administrations of both host schools to offer our support, as well as to review their plans moving forward. Both had appropriate security plans in place already, and despite these incidents being outside their control, will work with their school personnel and local law enforcement to be even more diligent moving forward. All schools and communities have their issues that they work through every day, and we know things can happen anytime and anywhere. That is why we will continue to work to educate our membership on preparedness and review of best practices related to hosting events.

We wish all of our schools the very best of luck on a safe and successful 2018-19 school year.

Craig Anderson
IHSA Executive Director