History Illinois High School Association

1 history

1.1 years
1.2 girls sports
1.3 recent times

1.3.1 class change
1.3.2 private school multiplier
1.3.3 march madness
1.3.4 1995 wrestling controversy
1.3.5 media usage restrictions
1.3.6 performance-enhancing drug testing


1.4 executive directors

history
early years

the ihsa founded on december 27, 1900, @ rump session of illinois principals association. known illinois high school athletic association first 40 years of existence, ihsa second oldest of 52 state high school associations. wisconsin interscholastic athletic association outdates it, 2 years.

for greater part of decade, ihsa concerned establishing school control on interscholastic athletic programs , setting eligibility standards competition. ringers persistent problem, , among schoolboy sports, football special concern. in period, severe injuries , deaths not uncommon, , there talk of banning football completely.

in 1908, ihsa s mission expanded in unforeseen direction when board convinced lewis omer of oak park , river forest high school sponsor statewide basketball tournament. although handful of other state associations had sponsored track meets, none had ever attempted organize statewide basketball tournament. first tournament, 11-team invitational held @ oak park ymca, financial success. subsequent state tournaments, open member schools, provided ihsa fiscal independence, important new vehicle spread message, , ever-increasing name recognition among public.

by 1922, affairs of association became time-consuming board hired full-time manager, c. w. whitten. vice president of board, whitten had reorganized basketball tournament , reduced size of state finals 21 teams four. same time, ihsa became charter member of national federation of state high school associations. in addition ihsa responsibilities, whitten ran business affairs of nfhs, @ first unofficially, , after 1927 official title of general manager.

from dual stage, whitten , assistant manager @ ihsa, h. v. porter, exerted unusual influence on high school sports, not in illinois, across nation. in 1 memorable battle, whitten took on grand old man of college football, amos alonzo stagg of university of chicago , shut down national tournament high school basketball champions. porter served on several nfhs committees , helped develop molded basketball , fan-shaped backboard, among other inventions. porter later became first full-time executive of nfhs.

as association matured, member schools requested sponsorship of state tournaments in sports other basketball. first such move came in 1927, when ihsa took on control of illinois interscholastic, festival of high school track, golf, , tennis run university of illinois. meet continued held on campus in champaign-urbana, basketball, ihsa involvement opened field ihsa member schools , removed non-member schools, including handful of out-of-state schools. ihsa subsequently established state series in several other boys sports: swimming , diving (1932), wrestling (1937), baseball (1940), cross country (1946), , gymnastics (1958) (gymnastics had university of illinois sponsored state meet 1952 through 1957). few of these series self-supporting, ever-popular basketball tournament – referred goose laid golden egg – paid freight all.

of many challenges faced whitten during 20 year career, 1 longest-lasting repercussions reorganization of 1940. prior time, 2 large groups of illinois high schools remained outside of ihsa control: private schools, not eligible membership, , public schools of chicago, eligible had joined sporadically. new constitution approved in 1940 extended privileges of membership non-public schools , gave limited autonomy chicago schools, subsequently joined en masse. in addition, non-athletic activities such speech , music added ihsa s menu, prompting elimination of word athletic association s name.

1941 saw 1 of first serious challenges ihsa authority, when association banned high school bands competing nationally. when bill introduced in illinois general assembly transfer ihsa s authority state superintendent s office, ihsa moved change ban, , give local athletic directors greater voice in decision making. year, ihsa allowed private schools participate first time.

in 1942, world war ii started have effect on american life, many schools began dropping less popular sports transportation , hiring qualified coaches became serious issue. association polled membership investigate possibility of ending spring sports season. poll supported keeping season. on country, gas rationing threatened prevent teams , officials traveling, ihsa secretary al willis able special exemptions illinois teams , officials; precedent spread other states, saving high school competitions during war. 1943, ihsa had @ making changes rules regarding eligible coaches, , prospect of military veterans returning high school. ironically, federal government did put limit post season travel high schools in may, 1945; late stop illinois spring tournaments, , in time herald end of war. in end, ihsa did not curtail sports tournaments throughout war.

girls sports

the ihsa s record of leadership in field of girls athletics mixed. girls have had opportunity participate in ihsa sponsored interscholastic sports since 1972, though opportunities before restricted.

girls basketball had begun pervade high schools time ihsa founded in 1900. few years later, upwards of 300 illinois high schools sponsored girls basketball teams. variety of reasons, leaders of ihsa found situation unacceptable. worried injuries , putting girls on public display, calling basketball not altogether ladylike . may have been concerned girls stealing gym time fledgling boys teams. on november 2, 1907, ihsa board banned interscholastic competition girls, becoming first state association so.

instead ihsa, considerable encouragement female educators, promoted intramural activities , cooperative play days girls. when whitten became director in 1921, reached out illinois league of high school girls athletic associations (ilhsgaa) , forged agreement barred girls teams interscholastic competition in sports decades thereafter. ihsa took on financial support of girls association in 1927 , absorbed in 1945. ihsa gradually relaxed policy somewhat, allowing interschool contests girls in non-contact sports such golf, tennis, , archery, these never popular events. provide small measure of competition in other sports, ihsa sponsored telegraphic or postal competitions in basket-shooting, swimming, , bowling.

by late 1960s whitten , ilhsgaa long gone, high school girls of illinois playing field had not changed since 1907. while ihsa able withstand pressure of member schools initiate meaningful interscholastics girls, passage of title ix in may 1972 forced issue. ihsa held first girls state tournament in tennis fall, , variety of other sports followed. today ihsa sponsors state tournaments in 14 sports girls.

recent times

while mundane tasks of regulating eligibility , licensing officials remain important ihsa s mission in beginning, higher-profile issues having state tournaments –- , wins them –- have repeatedly stolen spotlight in recent years.

class change

illinois 1 of last states, , largest, retain one-class system, schools, regardless of enrollment, competed same prize. in december 1970 smaller schools, make majority of ihsa members, forced binding referendum on whether implement two-class system in boys basketball, , measure carried narrow margin, 312–293. after move, several other sports adopted two-class format. in january 2006, after substantial majority of schools responding advisory referendum indicated preference more classes, ihsa board of directors approved expansion in several sports, starting in 2007–08.

at culmination of first drive expansion, ihsa sought way add state championship in football schedule of events. because of sheer number of schools involved, playoff involving schools not possible. in 1974, ihsa introduced five-class system in teams qualified based on regular-season performance. addition of football playoffs coaxed last large group of non-members, schools of chicago catholic league, join ihsa. playoffs expanded 6 classes in 1980 , 8 classes in 2001.

private school multiplier

the success of non-public schools in ihsa tournaments has led considerable debate among members, 83% of public schools. in 1985, interstate 8 conference proposed bylaw ihsa should exclude private schools competing in state tournaments, though membership voted proposal down. in 2005, board of directors implemented multiplier classification purposes boosted enrollments of non-boundaried schools factor of 1.65. group of 37 private schools later sued association, , settlement reached required multiplier go through association s annual legislative process. in december 2005, member schools voted 450–143 retain 1.65 multiplier.

march madness

another lawsuit drew national attention in 1990s, when ihsa laid claim march madness . phrase first used describe ihsa basketball tournament in essay written h. v. porter in 1939 , published in ihsa s monthly magazine. on time phrase came used high school basketball tournaments, particularly in illinois, not trademarked ihsa. when television production company sought register phrase, ihsa sued, leading battle involved ncaa well. in end, district court judge ruled both ihsa , ncaa register trademark , use phrase own purposes. in addition, ihsa sole owner of mark, america s original march madness .

1995 wrestling controversy

in 1995, mt. carmel (chicago), under coach bill weick, entered end of wrestling season ranked third in nation usa today, , poised win fourth consecutive state dual team title. prior regional tournament, ihsa learned school had competed in many invitational tournaments, , disqualified school further competing team. mt. carmel did not deny assertion; however, claimed 1 of varsity tournaments had had jv , frosh-soph wrestlers competing. mt. carmel won temporary injunction cook county circuit court permit team compete in regionals. while individual tournaments progressed, mt. carmel won court victory, forced ihsa permit team wrestle. when ihsa s appeal denied, , after temporarily suspending tournament, ihsa decided end season without class aa state championship dual team tournament; first time in history of association state tournament had been cancelled due cause other war.

media usage restrictions

on november 1, 2007, illinois press association (ipa) , 2 newspapers (the northwest herald , state journal-register) filed temporary restraining order prohibit ihsa enforcing policy restricting use of photographs taken @ state final events. ihsa s policy, similar adopted ncaa, colleges such illinois state university , university of illinois, , other state high school associations, allows news-gathering organizations sell photos published prohibits sale (usually through web site) of many photos taken @ event not published. circuit court judge denied motion on november 5 , encouraged parties renew talks resolve impasse. plaintiffs withdrew request preliminary injunction on november 16 talks continued.

on december 5, 2007, ihsa announced had filed countersuit ipa seeking resolution ongoing issue, citing failure on part of ipa continue talks, , ongoing sale of photographs.

in january, 2008, announced state representative joseph lyons had submitted illinois house bill 4582, prevent ihsa enforcing ban on press outlets selling pictures of ihsa events.

in april, 2008, ihsa , illinois press association jointly announced cessation of hostilities gave press permission sell photographs without hindrance ihsa

performance-enhancing drug testing

on january 14, 2008, ihsa announced that, based on survey of 54% of principals, move forward design , implement program test presence of performance-enhancing drugs in student athletes participating in select state series competitions. while details have not been worked out, based on vote of principals, membership not favor forcing team forfeit in event of positive test, though membership, voted overwhelmingly favored support period of ineligibility athletes testing positive, , narrowly supported forcing schools adopt education programs if athlete tested positive.

executive directors

prior 1991, office known manager or executive secretary.

c. w. whitten, 1922–1942
albert willis, 1942–1968
harry fitzhugh, 1968–1978
lavere l. (liz) astroth, 1978–1991
h. david fry, 1991–2002
martin l. hickman, 2002–2016
craig anderson, 2016–present




^ association ban threatens prep tourneys here; northwestern , chicago may bar city schools, 17 march 1926, chicago daily tribune, p. 17; accessed 1 september 2008
^ c.w. whitten accepts new athletic post, 7 april 1940, chicago daily tribune, p. b3; accessed 1 september 2008
^ agreement on illinois prep setup forecast, 9 february 1941, chicago daily tribune, p. d2; accessed 1 september 2008
^ withdraws bill taking ihsa authority away, 24 april 1941, chicago daily tribune, p. 12; accessed 1 september 2008
^ bloomington trinity high school fighting irish or saints . illinois high school glory days. retrieved 19 september 2015. 
^ illinois vote on high school spring sports, 30 december 1942, chicago daily tribune, p. 21; accessed 1 september 2008
^ illinois preps getting ready normal spring program, 11 april 1943, chicago daily tribune, p. b5; accessed 1 september 2008
^ cox, mark, problems fail upset state prep secretary, 12 january 1944, chicago daily tribune, p. 22; accessed 1 september 2008
^ illinois prep body submits war time rules; high school association vote on changes, 27 october 1943, chicago daily tribune, p. 31; accessed 1 september 2008
^ odt curtails post season athletic games, 16 may 1945, chicago daily tribune, p. 23; accessed 1 september 2008
^ ihsa votes down plan oust private schools . chicago tribune. 19 november 1985. pp. c3. plan eliminate private schools state tournament competition against public high schools voted down monday ihsa. proposal introduced coal city principal mark a. mills on behalf of interstate 8 conference. private schools make 15.5 percent o ihsa. 
^ [johnson, k. c. reid hanley & scott johnson contributing, 5 february 1995, ihsa ruling pins mt. carmel s hopes caravan disqualified state meet many invitationals, chicago tribune, p. 16. retrieved october 7, 2008, chicago tribune database. (document id: 20692920)]
^ [hanley, reid, john k. mccarthy, sam natrop , raymond rinn contributing, 8 february 1995, mt. carmel wins in court; naperville n., waubonsie on mat, chicago tribune, p. 4. retrieved october 7, 2008, chicago tribune database. (document id: 20695363)]
^ [fegelman, andrew, 17 february 1995, judge favors mt. carmel; ihsa appeal, chicago tribune, p. 410. retrieved october 7, 2008, chicago tribune database. (document id: 8009010).]
^ [hanley, reid, 28 february 1995, ihsa cancels class aa wrestling tournament ruling body decides pull plug rather include mt. carmel, chicago tribune, p. 3, retrieved october 7, 2008, chicago tribune database. (document id: 20894054)]
^ ihsa announcement of countersuit ipa
^ ihsa response h.b. 4582
^ ihsa-ipa joint resolution
^ tabulation of votes of principals regarding drug testing
^ ihsa board minutes jan. 14, 2008 highlighting drug testing plan.