News

 

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Participation, Scholarship, & Sportsmanship

Three words that are paramount to the IHSAA: Participation, Scholarship, and Sportsmanship. So important are these three expanses, the IHSAA has created three separate committees comprised of member-school administrators, coaches, and staff to study, discuss, and potentially propose enhancements in these areas to our Board of Directors.

Initially this spring, the IHSAA will reconvene the Participation Rule Study Committee. Their work will focus on a critical review of the recently amended rules for contact during the school year out-of-season. Additionally, the committee will begin taking a deep dive into summer activities at our member-schools. The challenges for the Participation Rule Study Committee continue to be the achievement of an appropriate balance between suitable programming during these out-of-season opportunities while providing flexibility and time away for student-athletes and coaches.

A new committee being assembled for the first time in many years is the Scholarship Rule Study Committee. As the landscape of education-based athletics continues to change rapidly, so too does the waterfront of education delivery systems. Conversations surrounding virtual learning, dual credit courses, minimum standards of achievement along with graduation pathways and their impact on student-athletes will dominate this new committee’s discussion.

Finally, the Sportsmanship Task Force will reunite to examine the successes of our ongoing sportsmanship initiatives and look to new opportunities.

 

 

After a year of intentional focus on adult behavior at our events, the task force will explore fresh approaches to invigorate and augment the conversation of proper sportsmanship. Perhaps nothing is more important to the interscholastic sports offering than the continued emphasis on respect and appropriate displays of respectable sportsmanship.

The United States Senator Ed Markey once commented, “Education is not only a ladder of opportunity, but it is also an investment in our future.” The IHSAA continues its exertion toward the investment in our 160,000 student-athletes through education, study, and discovery. These three committees and their labors will enrich our already valuable assets and further promote the unquestionable value of education-based sports and activities in our state.

Cordially,

BOBBY COX
Commissioner
Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc.

 

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Sportsmanship Survey Results & A Salute to Ivy Tech

IHSAA principals and athletic directors were surveyed recently about the IHSAA Sportsmanship Program. Thanks to Ivy Tech, the long-time presenting sponsor of the program, member-schools receive posters, postcards, popcorn bags, social media posts, brochures, pins and more to promote the importance of practicing good sportsmanship throughout the year.

The results of the survey are in, and they are impressive:

 

83%

mentioned Ivy Tech when asked to name
the program's presenting sponsor

 

96%

displayed the posters that were sent

 

87%

used the popcorn bags

 

73%

participated in the new
#FaceOfSportsmanship pin program

 

96%

want the IHSAA to continue communicating with parents
and other adults about their behavior at athletic events

 

Without the support of Ivy Tech, the IHSAA Sportsmanship Program would not be possible. Corporate partners are essential contributors to the IHSAA’s communications efforts, and Ivy Tech is an excellent example of how important corporate involvement can be.

Best of all, the IHSAA/Ivy Tech relationship is a win-win. The IHSAA receives needed funding for an important program, and Ivy Tech has a unique marketing vehicle to introduce itself to potential students and their families.

In addition to Ivy Tech, please join us in thanking our other presenting sponsors:

INDIANA FARM BUREAU INSURANCE

Presenting sponsor of the IHSAA Champions Network

 

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

Presenting sponsor of the IHSAA Football Tournament

 

 

INDIANA PACERS/INDIANA FEVER

Presenting sponsors of the IHSAA Girls and Boys Basketball Tournaments

 

Corporate partnerships provide meaningful opportunities for the IHSAA, our member-schools, and the 160,000 student-athletes we serve. We salute them all.

 

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The CRN: A Year-End Review

Telling the high school sports story all year long: that’s the mission of the IHSAA Champions Radio Network (CRN). Network coverage involves so much more than broadcasting state tournament events. It also includes promoting the value of education-based athletics through :30 and :60 second radio commercials, encouraging attendance at tournament events, and broadcasting weekly five-minute interviews with Commissioner Bobby Cox and Mental Attitude Award winners.

Add it all up, and over 40,000 messages about education-based athletics were broadcast by the CRN’s 50 affiliate radio stations during the 2018-19 school year.

And the response to network programming by CRN stations has been tremendous:

 

      I like the variety of programs offered by the CRN. From the interviews
               with Mental Attitude Award winners to the weekly conversation with
               the commissioner, it keeps our listeners up-to-date with everything
               going on in high school sports in our state.

                  Dan Egierski, Play-by-Play Talent for WREF 97.7 FM/ESPN Radio, Evansville, IN

 

     The coverage that we get from the CRN is the perfect complement
               to what we do at our stations in Warsaw. We have weekly access
               to Commissioner Bobby Cox, which we would never have without
               the CRN.

                  Roger Grossman, Kensington Digital Media/Indiana Sports Director
                  for WRSW and News Now Warsaw, Warsaw, IN

 

We’re all working together to promote high school sports in Indiana and the value of education-based athletics. The CRN plays a key role in this process.

 

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2019 C. Eugene Cato Award Winners

 

 

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MAY 31: Boys Track and Field State Finals

JUNE 1: Girls Track and Field State Finals, Unified Track and Field State Finals

MAY 31–JUNE 1: Girls Tennis State Finals (Team)

JUNE 7–8: Girls Tennis State Finals (Singles/Doubles)

JUNE 8: Softball State Finals

JUNE 11–12: Boys Golf State Finals

JUNE 17-18: Baseball State Finals