April 26, 2005
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors approved Terms and Conditions recommendations for Competitive Cheerleading and Journalism at its board meeting today. With the addition of the two, the IHSA will offer state series competitions in 36 sports and activities during the 2005-06 school year.
There will be three divisions of competition in cheerleading. Large Team will be for those schools with enrollments greater than 1765, Medium Team will be for schools between 660-1765 students, while Small Team will be for schools of fewer than 659 students. Squad sizes will vary for each division, with Large Team squads consisting of 17-20 participants, Medium Team 13-16 participants, and Small Team up to 12 participants. Competitive Cheerleading Sectionals will be held at five sites across the state on Saturday of week 35 of the IHSA Standardized Calendar with the State Finals slated for the weekend of week 36.
Journalism, meanwhile, will hold Sectionals on Saturday of week 42 of the IHSA Standardized Calendar and its State Final on Saturday of week 43. Students will be able to compete in 15 different events as a part of the competition, with events ranging from photography to yearbook layout to computer-generated graphics.
“We are incredibly excited about the addition of competitive cheerleading and journalism to our state series contests,” said IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman. “We expect both of these to be immediately popular with our membership, and we're pleased to be offering competitions that will allow students at our member schools to display their talents in these new forums.”
Also, the IHSA Board of Directors selected state final sites through the 2009-10 school year for boys basketball, girls basketball, and individual wrestling at their meeting today. Peoria's Carver Arena will play host to the boys basketball tournaments, Illinois State University's Redbird Arena will host girls basketball, and the Assembly Hall on the campus of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana will host the individual wrestling tournament.
The Board chose Peoria's bid over a proposal from Champaign-Urbana in selecting the boys' basketball state finals host for the next five years, during which time the IHSA will conduct its 100th boys' basketball state tournament in March of 2007.
“We are very excited to continue playing our boys basketball state finals in Peoria,” said IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman. “This was not, however, an easy choice for our staff and Board to make. Both bids were extremely attractive, and each brought a number of strengths to the table. But in the end, Peoria's commitment to creating a first class environment and atmosphere for our competitors and fans, and its confluence of arena, hotels, and restaurants all within walking distance of one another were the determining factors in this decision.”
“We are also very pleased to have our girls basketball and individual wrestling tournaments returning to venues where they have had successful runs. Redbird Arena and the Assembly Hall are great sites, and we are fortunate to have such good partners at both universities. We look forward to having student-athletes creating many more positive memories at each,” said Hickman.
The Board is currently accepting bids to host the boys baseball and girls softball state finals. The deadline for submission of those bids is May 23, 2005. An announcement concerning their selections will be made as early as the Board's June meeting.
Other Action
6. The Board approved a recommendation from the Executive Director to approve Personnel Policies for the IHSA staff for the 2005-06 school year.
7. The Board approved a recommendation from the Executive Director to approve a request from Lake Zurich and Orland Park (Sandburg) High Schools to allow their competitive cheerleading teams to participate in the NCA Nationals in Dallas, Texas, on December 28 and 29, 2005.
8. The Board approved a recommendation to use Minerva Sportswear Inc. of Bloomington, Illinois, as its vendor to supply state final merchandise for the next five years.
9. The Board approved a recommendation to offer Runs Deep, an internet-based scheduling software, an endorsement of intention in order that the company can pursue potential sponsors in order to underwrite the cost of the service to member schools. The Board will review the service at a time to be determined later in order to decide whether or not to go forward with the program.
10. The Board approved a recommendation to change the tournament structure and to modify the playing dates in boys and girls soccer. The change and the modification were necessary to accommodate the new Classification Policy that will be implemented in 2005-06.
Eligibility Rulings
No appeals regarding eligibility rulings were considered by the board.
Discussion Items
At each meeting of the Board of Directors, there are certain agenda items that the Board discusses, but upon which it takes no action. Following is a report of those on the April 26, 2005, agenda:
Other Items
1. The Board affirmed its decision from the March 2005 Board meeting to implement a 1.65 multiplier to all non-boundaried schools with enrollments exceeding 450 students effective with the start of the 2005-06 school year. Mr. Donald Sebestyen, principal of New Lenox (Providence) High School, Sister Sheila Megley, principal of Wheaton (St. Francis) High School, Dr. David Roth, Headmaster of West Chicago (Wheaton Academy) High School, and Matt Unger, a student at Wheaton (St. Francis) High School, made an appeal to the Board on behalf of the members of the Catholic Conference of Illinois to reconsider the Board's action from last month. However, the Board did approve a recommendation that will prohibit non-boundaried schools from moving up more than one class in football, effective with the start of the 2005-06 school year. The Board also directed staff to develop an appeals process for schools affected by the multiplier in sports other than football. Therefore, schools could petition to remain in the class dictated by their enrollment.
2. The Board heard a report from the Executive Director concerning adjustments that will need to be made to initial assignments of schools for several state series for the 2005-06 school term. The 2005-06 school year was to be the third year of a three-year cycle of consistent assignments by the IHSA Office for sports and activities. The influx of schools into Class AA as a result of the implementation of the multiplier next year necessitates the changes. Next year then will mark the beginning of another three-year cycle.