3. At some point this year… a coach, athletic director, athlete, parent or fan will ask you about the IHSA’s postseason assignments. This presentation is designed to show you how that process works.

4. ONE CLASS  Boys & Girls Bowling  Boys & Girls Gymnastics  Boys & Girls Swimming & Diving  Boys & Girls Tennis  Boys Volleyball  Boys & Girls Water Polo  Girls Badminton  Competitive Dance  All other activities TWO CLASS (A, AA)  Girls Golf  Scholastic Bowl

5. THREE CLASS (1A, 2A, 3A)  Boys & Girls Cross Country  Boys Golf  Boys & Girls Soccer  Boys & Girls Track & Field  Boys Wrestling FOUR CLASS (1A, 2A, 3A, 4A)  Baseball  Boys & Girls Basketball  Cheerleading  Softball  Girls Volleyball EIGHT CLASS (1A – 8A)  Football Playoffs

6. INDIVIDUAL  Girls Badminton  Boys & Girls Bowling  Boys & Girls Cross Country  Boys & Girls Golf  Boys & Girls Gymnastics  Boys & Girls Swimming & Diving  Boys & Girls Tennis  Boys & Girls Track & Field  Boys Individual Wrestling TEAM BRACKETED  Baseball  Boys & Girls Basketball  Football  Boys & Girls Soccer  Softball  Boys & Girls Volleyball  Boys & Girls Water Polo  Dual Team Wrestling TEAM  Cheerleading  Dance

7. INDIVIDUAL  Regional   Sectional   State Final or  Sectional   State Final TEAM BRACKETED  Regional (32 sites)   Sectional (8 sites) *   Super-Sectional (4) **   State Final * Some start at Sectionals ** No Super-Sectionals for Water Polo, Boys Volleyball or Dual Team Wrestling

8. GEOGRAPHIC PRINCIPLE  1. The State Series is designed to determine a State Champion. The State Series is not intended to necessarily advance the best teams in the state to the State Final.  2. Representation in an IHSA State Final Tournament is determined on a geographic basis — that is, schools advancing to the State Final Tournament (or in Boys Football, the State Final Game) qualify from given geographical areas of the state. Pairings for the State Final Tournament are determined every year in a drawing that is open to the media/public.  3. The number of schools in a State Final Tournament, and levels of competition in the State Series, are determined by the number of schools entered in the series.

9. ELEMENTS THAT FACTOR INTO ASSIGNING  1. Number of schools entered in state series and their locations; and,  2. Classification of schools in the state series.  3. In individual state series tournaments/meets, the number of schools with full teams assigned to the beginning competition is balanced as much as possible. Travel distance to the tournament/meet site could justify an imbalance in the number of schools assigned to a site.

10. ELEMENTS THAT DO NOT FACTOR INTO ASSIGNING  1. Won-lost records of the schools;  2. Strengths or weaknesses of the schools in a geographic area;  3. Anticipated or potential revenue; and  4. Individual, private requests of schools and/or coaches.

11. IHSA MAPPING PROGRAM & HOW WE ASSIGN  Blank map  Clicking hosts and schools to assign ASSINGING SECTIONALS  Assigning backward, Sectional first  Numerical balance, must stay within two schools in each Sectional to assure contest balance. I.E 171 Schools = (1-23, 1-22, 6-21 or 4-22, 3-21, 1-20, )  Assign central placeholder site, then review data to see who is willing and able to host. Completed Map  Human Element

12. ASSINGING REGIONALS  Four Regionals per Sectional in team bracketed sports  Try to keep balance (20 team Sectional, equals 4 Regionals of 5), but other factors could force unbalanced, Policy 19 provides autonomy for administrator to choose  Take our time, play with assignments…once set…assign CHOOSING HOSTS  Host factors (history, facility, ability to host)  Host sites change geography and travel,  But can’t change assignments or numbers become unbalanced

13. INDIVIDUAL SPORT NOTES  The goal when assigning for individual sports is to try and bring balance to the number of team entries and individual entries assigned to each site.  Anomalies will exist where a certain geographic area will contain significantly more individuals than teams or vice versa. The Policy allows each administrator some leeway to work through those situations.

14. OUTLIERS & EXCEPTIONS  Some sports only have smaller numbers of participating schools, many of which are generally located in the same geographic area, such as water polo, gymnastics  Less schools, still not easy or less controversial  In four class sports, the southern Sectional is often made up of just 16 teams.

15.  Only IHSA sport that requires postseason qualification.  256 qualifiers – 8 classes – 32 teams per class  All teams with six wins or more qualify. Some 5-4 teams will not qualify based on tiebreakers.  1 st tiebreaker is combined total of all nine opponents wins during the regular-season.  2 nd tiebreaker is combined total of victories from the five teams that your school defeated.

16.  “Why am I in a different Sectional for Softball than I am for Volleyball?”  “I want to schedule teams from my Regional and Sectional during the regular-season. Will the group of schools I am assigned with change from year to year?”  “Why does my Regional have four teams with 20 wins and the best team in that other Regional is barely.500?”  “Why did my school travel north for Regionals & Sectionals last year, but this year is assigned to go South?”

17.  All seeding conducted online  Records, rankings, other information taken into account at this time.  Seeded at the lowest level of the tournament in all team bracketed sports in Class 1A and 2A sports  In Class 3A & 4A, in the Chicago suburban area, all tournament State Series will begin with a Sectional Complex.  In all other cases, team bracketed sports begin with true geographic Regionals.

18. POWER RATING ATTRIBUTES  License Level  Exam Score  Annual Rules Change Meeting Credit  Previous State Series Experience  Ratings by coaches and officials  Top 15 lists from schools and officials  Clinic attendance and level  Varsity games worked

19. Presi link “The IHSA serves member schools by providing leadership for equitable participation in interscholastic athletics and activities that enrich the educational experience.”

20. The IHSA offers state series in 37 sports and activities and governs the interscholastic competition of all emerging sports and activities.

21. IHSA activities such as music (solo & ensemble and organizational contest), speech (individual events), drama/group interpretation, debate, journalism, chess, bass fishing, scholastic bowl, and spirit activities (sideline cheerleading, dance, poms, drill, & flags) are where young people learn lifelong lessons.

22. At a cost of only approximately 3 % (or less in many cases) of an overall school budget, high school activity programs are one of the best bargains around! There are no entry fees for our activity state series and only a few have minor event fees to cover the cost of judges.

23.  Activities foster citizenship.  Activities support the schools mission.  Activities are inherently educational.  Activities develop success later in life.

24. Students who spend no time in extracurricular activities are 57% more likely to drop out of school, 49% more likely to use drugs, 37% more likely to become teen parents and 27% more likely to be arrested.

25.  Students involved in interscholastic activities stay more involved in the community after graduation. Students are more socially involved.  Interscholastic participation is correlated to a positive impact on female and minority students.

26.  Interscholastic activities provide: Boundaries for students Boundaries for students Achievement motivation for students Achievement motivation for students Planning and decision making skills for students Planning and decision making skills for students

28.  Each activity home page contains specific contest contains specific contest terms and conditions and competition information

29.  Questions can be addressed to the specific administrator  Entry questions can be addressed to Tammy Craig at tcraig@ihsa.org tcraig@ihsa.org  Check the activity tracker to follow your entries

30. “The IHSA serves member schools by providing leadership for equitable participation in interscholastic athletics and activities that enrich the educational experience.”

32. All State Academic Team Sponsor All State Academic Team Sponsor 26 student-athletes recognized each year 26 student-athletes recognized each year Member schools can nominate one boy and one girl Member schools can nominate one boy and one girl Applications are posted online through the Schools Center and will be available in early December Applications are posted online through the Schools Center and will be available in early December

33.  All-State Academic Team Banquet April 20th April 20th DoubleTree Hotel, Bloomington DoubleTree Hotel, Bloomington

34.  Recognizes students who in the classroom while participating in IHSA sponsored sports or activities The student must currently be a junior or senior in an IHSA member school. The student must currently be a junior or senior in an IHSA member school. The student must have completed at least one full season in an IHSA interscholastic activity in good standing. The student must have completed at least one full season in an IHSA interscholastic activity in good standing. The student must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, or the equivalent on an alternate scale, after the 5th or 7th semester. The student must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, or the equivalent on an alternate scale, after the 5th or 7th semester. Each member school principal or official representative should notify the IHSA office in writing as to the number of eligible students they have in their school. The IHSA will send member schools a certificate of recognition for each eligible student.

35.  When one of your qualifying teams achieves a 3.0 grade point average for their entire season, a representative at your school will simply have the sport and year engraved on the plate and attached to the plaque. A seasonal report will be submitted to the IHSA informing the IHSA on the number of teams recognized during each season.  1st and 2nd Quarter Grades: All Fall Sports/Activities - January 15 th  2nd and 3rd Quarter Grades: All Winter Sports/Activities -April 15  3rd and 4th Quarter Grades- June 30

36.  The SAC is a diverse group of students who participate in interscholastic athletics/activities and are focused on providing education and leadership through open and honest communication with all member school students, administrators and coaches. The committee serves as a liaison between students, administrators, the IHSA Staff and Board of Directors. The Student Advisory Committee promotes the ideals of the IHSA, including leadership, sportsmanship and integrity.

37.  SAC Nomination Process Any IHSA member school Administrator may nominate a freshman and/or sophomore male and female to be a member of the IHSA Student Advisory Committee. Any IHSA member school Administrator may nominate a freshman and/or sophomore male and female to be a member of the IHSA Student Advisory Committee. There is no limit to the number of students nominated from a school but no more than one student from a school will serve on the committee at a time. There is no limit to the number of students nominated from a school but no more than one student from a school will serve on the committee at a time. Nomination forms can be found online by clicking on the Advisory Committee page link followed by Student Advisory Committee.

38. IHSA By-law 3.101 IHSA Policy #15

39.  IHSA By-law 3.101 prohibits a student from participating on a non-school team or in non-school competition in the sport or any skill of a sport at the time the student is a member of a school team in that same sport. During the school term, special permission may be granted to permit a student to compete in a non-school event during the school season in competitions which are directly sanctioned by the national governing body for the sport or its official Illinois affiliate. No student may participate in more than three (3) approved non-school competitions during a sports season.

40.  A request must be faxed to the IHSA Office no later than ten (10) days prior to the date of any competition.  Verification from the National Governing Body for that sport or its official Illinois affiliate indicating it is directly sanctioning the event is required with the fax.  No student may participate in more than three (3) approved non-school competitions. during a sports season

41.  Badminton-USA Badminton  Baseball-USA Baseball  Basketball-USA Basketball (USAB)  Bowling-USA Bowling  Diving-United States Diving, Inc. (USD)  Golf-United States Golf Association (USGA)  Gymnastics-USA Gymnastics  Soccer-United States Soccer Federation (USSF)  Softball-USA Softball  Swimming-United States Swimming, Inc. (USS)  Tennis-United States Tennis Association (USTA)  Track & Field-USA Track & Field (USATF)  Triathlon-USA Triathlon Association  Volleyball-USA Volleyball (USAV)  Water Polo-United States Water Polo, Inc. (USWP)  Wrestling-USA Wrestling

43. Policy 8 pg. 90

44.  Sanctioning enhances the likelihood that events will adhere to sound and detailed criteria which meets the specific requirements of a state association.  Sanctioning serves to promote sound regulation of the conditions under which students and teams compete.  Sanctioning is a means of encouraging well- managed rules and regulations.  Sanctioning adds an element of “due diligence” that encourages compliance with state associations’ rules and regulations.  Sanctioning protects the welfare of the student- athletes.

45.  Sanctioning helps reduce the abuses of excessive competition.  Sanctioning promotes uniformity in obtaining approval for events.  Sanctioning helps protect students from exploitation.  Interstate and International sanctioning at the NFHS level promotes financial transparency and equivalency of treatment of participating high schools.

46. a) Any interstate event involving two (2) or more schools which is co-sponsored by or titled in the name of an organization outside the high school community (e.g., a university, a theme park, and an athletic shoe/apparel company). b) Non-bordering events if five (5) or more states are involved. c) Non-bordering events if more than eight (8) schools are involved. d) Any event involving two (2) or more schools that involves a team from a foreign country. The host school should complete the international sanction application. (The exceptions to this rule are Canada and Mexico, which are considered bordering states).

47. www.nfhs.org/sanctioning

48.  The host school is the school who assumes the accountability of the being responsible for the event.  The host school’s principal assumes oversight responsibility for the event by being either present onsite during the event, either in person or by designee.

49.  Can a host school be responsible for an event outside of that state (e.g. Illinois high school signing off as the host school for a Florida event) ?  No, it is NFHS board policy, that the host school shall be in the same state of the event in the event something occurs at the event, then the principal or his/her designee could quickly assess and report the situation.

50.  Applications must be completed 60 days prior to the event start date. The initial list of schools must be submitted upon application The initial list of schools must be submitted upon application The final list of schools must be submitted 20 days prior to the contest The final list of schools must be submitted 20 days prior to the contest  Host states must then approve the event  Participating states must approve the event  NFHS approves the event

52.  $100 if the application is received 60 days or more prior to the event date  $200 if application is received 15-59 days prior to the event date ($100 application fee plus $100 penalty)  $200 penalty if the application is received less than 15 days prior the event date plus an additional $100 penalty for not forwarding the list of actual entries 20 days prior to the event date for a total of $300 ($100 application fee plus $200 penalty)  $300 penalty if the application is received less than 15 days prior the event date plus an additional $100 penalty for not forwarding the list of actual entries 20 days prior to the event date for a total of $600 ($200 application fee plus $400 penalty fees)

53.  Other School Forms