The Illinois High School Association and the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association welcome you to the IHSA Football Best Practices. The Football Best Practices is a collaborate effort between the IHSA and IHSFCA designed to provide educational components on the proper fundamentals of the game of football for coaches and players of all ages and skill levels.
This ever-expanding library of resources focuses on sample drills, techniques and teaching points used by high school football coaches across the state of Illinois. Visual imagery accompanies content whenever possible to help assist with proper implementation and execution.
The first high school football game in the state of Illinois was played in October, 1885. Over the years, the game has grown and changed in ways that those pioneering young men from Phillips High School and Lake View High School in Chicago likely never could have imagined.Not only have the uniforms and equipment evolved, as witnessed by the photos below, but the level of athlete has grown almost equivocally with the scientific research surrounding the game.
That knowledge has helped bring about significant changes to the sport aimed at improving player safety. Injuries are a part of athletics, but it is the belief of the IHSA and IHSFCA that through efforts like the Football Best Practices, we can help shape athletes and coaches who are better prepared to play the game of football now and in the future.
For more on the steps the IHSA has taken for student-athlete safety, visit the Play Smart. Play Hard.
