IHSAA News Release

August 10, 2012

IHSAA Soccer State Finals to be Played at IUPUI
For the first time since its inception, the IHSAA boys and girls soccer state tournaments will culminate in a different venue this fall. The IHSAA has reached a one-year agreement to play this year’s four final matches at Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium on the campus of IUPUI.

The state finals are scheduled for Saturday, October 27, 2012. The Class A boys state championship will begin at 10:30 am ET and will be followed by the Class A girls final at 1 pm, the Class 2A boys at 3:30 pm and the Class 2A girls at 6 pm.

The stadium includes a newly-installed FieldTurf Revolution surface that is FIFA and NCAA-compliant at 115 yards x 75 yards and is home to IUPUI’s men’s and women’s soccer teams.

“We are excited about the soccer-specific facility and the fan-friendly surroundings that it has to offer,” said Assistant Commissioner Sandra Walter, who administers both state tournaments. “For the first time, we will provide practice space for our state finalists prior to the tournament and with the change to a FIFA-approved synthetic surface, we feel that the new accommodations will be well-received and prove beneficial to our state qualifiers.”

The boys and girls soccer state finals had been played at Kuntz Memorial Stadium in Indianapolis since the state tournament’s inception in 1994.

Three New Schools Approved for IHSAA Membership
Three schools were approved for initial probationary membership by the IHSAA Executive Committee during its recent first meeting of the 2012-13 school year.

Applications were approved from Christel House Academy of Indianapolis, Hammond Academy of Science and Technology in Hammond, and South Bend Career Academy of South Bend.

Each school will enter a four-year probationary membership period during which it will be required to meet a number of criteria in order to gain full membership. Among the criteria are adhering to all IHSAA rules and regulations, maintaining at least one team and program for each gender in each season (fall, winter and spring), attending the IHSAA New School Orientation and attending all seasonal meetings and educational opportunities for the principal and athletic director. In addition, each school will be monitored for compliance by an IHSAA assistant commissioner who has been assigned to mentor the school’s administrators during the first two years of probationary membership.

At the end of the four-year period (June 2016), the IHSAA Executive Committee will review the school’s overall compliance and vote to determine whether the school will gain full membership.

Students at each school will be able to compete in regular season events immediately but, by IHSAA rule, won’t be eligible to participate in state tournament series competition for four years (2016-17).

The three new additions combined with the closure of New Harmony High School in southwestern Indiana brings the IHSAA membership total to 410 schools for 2012-13.

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About the Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc. (IHSAA)
Founded in 1903, the purpose of the Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc. (IHSAA) is to encourage, regulate and give direction to wholesome amateur interschool athletic competition between its 408 member schools. The Association provides state championship tournament series in 20 sports, 10 for girls and 10 for boys. Approximately 160,000 student athletes participate in IHSAA sports on an annual basis.