The Spectator Newsletter: Winter 2021

Basketball in Indiana: "The Center of the Sport"

By Paul Neidig, IHSAA Commissioner

April 3, 2021, promises to be a basketball extravaganza unlike any other.

That’s when the NCAA will be hosting the Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium at the same time the IHSAA will be hosting the Boys Basketball State Finals, better known as Hoosier Hysteria, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Imagine! Two premier championship basketball events in the same city, on the same day.

As most fans know, the entire NCAA basketball tournament is being held in Indiana this year. It’s a point of pride for our state and, more importantly, a significant boost for our economy.

That’s why our Board of Directors was happy to move the date of the Boys Basketball State Finals back one week, from March 27 to April 3. It’s one more way the IHSAA can be a good partner with the Indiana Pacers and Fever, the Indianapolis Colts, and the State of Indiana. This means the four best collegiate teams will be playing basketball in downtown Indianapolis at the same time the eight best high school teams in Indiana are doing the same just a few blocks away. This is “pure spirit, pure sport, pure Indiana” at its very best. What a day for hoops fans!

All other Hoosier Hysteria dates remain the same:

Sectionals: March 2, 3, 5, and 6
Regionals: Saturday, March 13
Semi-States: Saturday, March 20

Even though he invented the game of basketball in Massachusetts, James Naismith is credited with having said (after attending a state championship game in Indiana in 1936), “Basketball really had its origin in Indiana, which remains the center of the sport.”

“The Center of the Sport!” Truer words have never been spoken—especially this year.

An image of Bankers Life Fieldhouse filled with fans during the last IHSAA boys basketball state finals held in 2019.

Fans fill Bankers Life Fieldhouse in 2019, the last time a Boys Basketball State Finals was contested.

The Power of Teamwork

Education-based high school athletics teach it, the most successful coaches in sports history have proved it, and we’ve all experienced it.

Teamwork and collaboration produces winners.

The IHSAA in 2020-21 is a great example. We have member-schools of every size, location, and demographic in Indiana—from Cannelton (one of our association’s smallest member-schools in rural Perry County) to Carmel (our largest school in suburban Hamilton County) to Calumet (an “in-between” sized school located in industrial Lake County). And yet, despite the fact that all 410 of our member-schools have their own values, goals, and health and safety regulations, we were able to complete a successful fall sports season and are about to begin our winter tournaments.

And we’ve done it with remarkably few cancellations!

Student-athletes wear masks on the sidelines of the 2020 IHSAA girls soccer state finals.

Student-athletes wear masks on the sidelines during the 2020 Girls Soccer State Finals.

The success we’ve had here in Indiana is the envy of many other state high school associations. That’s because of you—each of you—who have worked extraordinarily hard to keep our high school sports season intact. A special thanks goes to the IHSAA Board of Directors and to our Assistant Commissioners, Robert Faulkens, Chris Kaufman, Kerrie Schludecker, and Sandra Walter, who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Their tenacity, resourcefulness, and flexibility continue to inspire.

We also thank Governor Holcomb; Dr. Kristina Box, Commissioner of the Indiana State Department of Health; Dr. Katie Jenner, Secretary of Education; and local health authorities in every county in our state. Ultimately, their empathy, cooperation, and leadership has made this year possible.

The phrase, “This is your IHSAA,” is not spoken lightly. The responsibility of providing our state’s 160,000 student-athletes with an enriching, education-based athletics opportunity, even during these most difficult times, belongs to all of us. And we—especially all of you—are responding to the challenge magnificently. Thank you, team!

Championing the Cause of High School Sports

One of the most dramatic examples of the power of teamwork—an example that can be analytically proven—is the social media campaign that the IHSAA is emailing to the athletic directors and principals of member-schools on Tuesday and Thursday of each week.

When one IHSAA athletic director or principal posts a message, the number of people who see it is limited to the fans and followers of their school. But when a group of school administrators post the same message, the potential impact is enormous.

That's what we’ve been experiencing with the Twitter and Facebook posts the IHSAA has been sending to athletic directors and principals since November. Every time an email is sent to administrators and they share the social media message embedded in it with their school communities, it is seen about 400,000 times, and Hoosiers are reminded about the importance of following virus protocols ... or the value of participating in education-based, high school athletics ... or the steps student-athletes need to take to stay healthy for the winter tournament season.

Imagine filling Lucas Oil Stadium with the coaches, parents, and fans of Indiana high school sports six times. That’s approximately the same number of impressions we generate every time a social media message is shared.

Since this program began in November, our team has generated a total of 2,878 posts that have been seen 9,657,767 times. It’s one more example of the good we can accomplish when we work together.

An example of the colorful graphics featuring photos from IHSAA events used to accompany IHSAA social media posts, with text: Let's keep playing!

Colorful graphics featuring photos from IHSAA events accompanied all of the social media posts we provided to our membership.

Congratulations to Our Fall State Champions

Sport	Class	Champion
Girls Golf (Team)	--	Evansville North
Girls Golf (Individual)	--	Macy Beeson, Lapel
Boys Tennis (Team)	--	Carmel
Boys Tennis (Singles)	--	Ajay Mahenthiran, North Central (Indianapolis)
Boys Tennis (Doubles)	--	Srisanth Malpeddi and Jones McNamar, Carmel
Girls Cross Country (Team)	--	Carmel
Girls Cross Country (Individual)	--	Karina James, Lowell
Boys Cross Country (Team)	--	Columbus North
Boys Cross Country (Individual)	--	Izaiah Steury, Angola
Unified® Flag Football	--	McCutcheon
Girls Soccer	1A	Lafayette Central Catholic
Girls Soccer	2A	Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger
Girls Soccer	3A	Noblesville
Boys Soccer	1A	Providence
Boys Soccer	2A	Evansville Memorial
Boys Soccer	3A	Chesterton
Volleyball	1A	Pioneer
Volleyball	2A	Barr-Reeve
Volleyball	3A	Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger
Volleyball	4A	Yorktown
Football	1A	Covenant Christian (Indianapolis)
Football	2A	Western Boone
Football	3A	Indianapolis Bishop Chatard
Football	4A	Roncalli
Football	5A	Indianapolis Cathedral
Football	6A	Center Grove

Congratulations to the Fall IHSAA Mental Attitude Award Winners

Sport	Class	Winner	School
Girls Golf	--	Nathaly Munnicha	Columbus North
Boys Tennis	--	Ajay Mahenthiran	North Central (Indianapolis)
Unified® Flag Football	--	Logan Smith and Casey Bane	Carroll (Fort Wayne)
Girls Cross Country	--	Abby Lynch	Brownsburg
Boys Cross Country	--	Paul Stamm	Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter
Girls Soccer	1A	Maya Love	Lafayette Central Catholic
Girls Soccer	2A	Cecilia Garrett	Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger
Girls Soccer	3A	Emma Potter	Noblesville
Boys Soccer	1A	Cameron Markley	Argos
Boys Soccer	2A	Garland Hall	Evansville Memorial
Boys Soccer	3A	Nick Biel	Chesterton
Volleyball	1A	Jaelyn Walker	Loogootee
Volleyball	2A	Makayla Graber	Barr-Reeve
Volleyball	3A	Greer Fraser	Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory
Volleyball	4A	Holly Kaim	Munster
Football	1A	James Arnold	South Adams
Football	2A	Luke Marsh	Western Boone
Football	3A	Kyle Haslett	Indianapolis Bishop Chatard
Football	4A	Ryan Henry	Roncalli
Football	5A	Zach Bielecki	Zionsville
Football	6A	Benji Welch	Westfield