oldtimeqb

From my limited experience with my son, nephews, and neighbors (small sample size alert!) - reduction of playing time and penalties were much tougher for missing "optional" basketball workouts as opposed to football ones.

I agree with you BTW. I like that blueprint and wish more schools would hire teachers who can coach golf, tennis, track, etc. Unfortunately many schools have had to hire lay coaches for those sports.

Easy for the programs to benefit when the coach is the same. I’m curious how many other schools have the same coach for both. I wonder how many track programs even have a coach in the building - many in SW Indiana are lay coaches.

I would guess the logistics make a scrimmage more appealing than a jamboree. For example my senior year jamboree encountered one of those late August lightning storms. Imagine being an AD and having to find somewhere for three visiting teams to dress and wait out an hour lightning delay.

They were due to be moved up to 2A because of enrollment. I don’t follow basketball enough to know if they are avoiding a certain team. It might be that the 3A road is easier. If that is the case, does a team who voluntarily plays up fall under the ‘stay up’ rules? (2 pts in 2 years.)

Here's an example of a school choosing to play up a class. North Daviess moving to 3A next year. 1. It's basketball, not football 2. They have traditionally been 1A, but would have been the 3rd of 4th smallest 2A, so they are jumping to 3A. https://twitter.com/NDCOUGARBBALL/status/1514945933724864520?s=20&t=s_5ZZpxXS_oUvDNTfxa0hQ

The schools mentioned in the article are the correct targets, IMO. The small private or charter schools and rural schools with a declining enrollment. I would like to see places like Wood Memorial (Oakland City) and Oldenburg Academy join the ranks. Perhaps even someone like Dugger Union. Schools that have a history of football but can't see to field a full 11 man squad on an annual basis. And whatever happened to all the "Lighthouse" schools? I think there 2 or 3 of them around the state a few years ago but can't seem to find anything about them.

I put a 99% chance on Brebeuf and Chatard being a straight switch - i.e. Brebeuf paired with Roncalli in 4A and Chatard with Guerin in 3A.

I would agree with your pairings. I didn’t realize South Spencer had dropped to A until this post. And 39? I will take Brownstown and you could have the field. Seems there is a clear favorite based on past history.

Edgewood moved from 3A to 4A and Bedford North Lawrence moved from 5A down to 4A. They have to go somewhere. Northview could stay in S24 and make it an 8 Teamer, but there still will be a bye somewhere in South between 21-24.

Brebeuf in for Chatard in 22. New Pal easily slides into 21, pushing Muncie Central North, wouldn't you think? Edgewood and Bedford N-L take Madison and South Dearborn's spots in 23 (dropped to 3A). Evansville Bosse joins 24, probably pushing Northview to 22 (and Frankfort/Western north). Almost too logical, IMO.

Out of curiosity, what was the size of CG back then? I find it fascinating to look back at some of the record books and see places like Zionsville and Westfield as 2A and 3A schools. And 1975 wasn't that long ago... at least IMO. LOL

Would these players be allowed to compete in football with their eye black? I know the answer is "in the rule book." But I still have to wonder why football officials make it a point to inspect players pre-game, sometimes even sending them back into the locker room to wash their faces during warmups. Knee pad enforcement - no problems. That clearly is a safety issue and players should be legally equipped. As my social media feeds are filling up with spring softball and baseball photos, I can't help but notice the face paint, I mean eye black, on the players. I have seen some photos of players with crosses and even hearts under each eye. I am trying to find a reason other than "it's in the rule book" why these players from last year's STATE FINAL are allowed to participate with their eye black but would be sent to wash up if they were playing football.

I think the K-8 school building model used by the SGSC and Evansville Diocese is outdated, but that is a discussion for another day. So you're saying the South Gibson Elite Twigapoos should be simply known as the Titans? How boring.

Thanks for starting an interesting topic. Beats seeding, reclassification, and P/P vs Public debates. I would say class is irrelevant somewhat. IMO the 1A "Blue bloods" - Pioneer, Linton, and LCC are currently in 2A, WeBo/Southridge and Ev Memorial/Chatard are all higher than when they started their runs, same with Columbus East and New Pal (I think) will be returning back to 4A after many years playing up. 33/34 schools would be a little more than the top 10% where I would draw the line. Not sure who I would take off though. Probably Zionsville and Valpo, just because its seems that 4A-5A have been watered down a bit with SF over the last decade. But that is splitting hairs.

For best results, I say run drills while the lacrosse team is practicing/playing on the field. No better way to work on elusiveness than dodging a lacrosse ball. You can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a tackle. HEAD ON A SWIVEL!

IHSAA: It's all about the kids. Right? Right??

Non-football news, but Jasper has hired Brittany Maners (daughter of John Hart and sister of Nick.) I wonder if that means her husband Jared, former coach at Princeton, will be joining the staff at Jasper? https://www.courierpress.com/story/sports/high-school/2022/03/29/ihsaa-girls-basketball-brittany-maners-named-jasper-high-school-coach/7199248001/

That sounds about normal to me. You can’t have a full week of two-a-days anymore, at least like there was 20 years ago. Many coaches/programs use the summer for teaching fundamentals. That way when practice starts the same week school starts, players don’t get overloaded with new stuff. And I would guess 2 hours for weights would include stretching, plyos, conditioning, and maybe even some speed work. But ‘Weights 2-4’ is much easier to type on a schedule.

Our neighbors to the west have 8 man. https://i8fa.org/ I had to google it, because it doesn't look like it's an IHSA sport, but a separate association? One of the schools is about 10 minutes from my relatives - and is only about 200 students max.

I agree. I have heard grumblings that "it's not real football." The same can be said about Sprint (less than 175lbs) football that SMWC, Calumet, Bellarmine, among others, are adding at the collegiate level. I'm all for more opportunity for kids to play in HS and in college, even if 8-man or sprint versions.

Congratulations to all those deserving men. Are Stan Jochim and Chris Sigler going in as assistant coaches or players? Or does the IFCA not specify?

I agree. I like what @HoopsCoach sketched out, but I just don't see IHSAA members passing a rule that requires a school to do anything football related. In basketball maybe, but we aren't there yet in football. I also like the Saturday playoff game feel. Yes, it's a different routine than Friday school then a game, but if you have advanced to the final 4 or 8 it should feel a little different. Plus a 1 pm and 4:30 pm start should hopefully have a little better weather in November.

Good points. Again, speaking in hypotheticals since these are things we would probably never see - why not 2 games on a Saturday like basketball? You would need 2 more sites (6 vs 4) so it's 3 North and 3 South. That could add to burden though, as 2 basketball games can be done in about 3-3.5 hours, which is the time length allowed for 1 state final game. Getting workers (even if paid) for a 7 hour shift might be harder. I could see a scenario where 2A Ev Mater Dei plays semi-state at "neutral" Reitz (4A) Bowl. However, the odds of that would still be less than the current 50-50 shot to host a SS game under the current model for a team that advances that far.

I would agree sufficient seating and turf would be minimum requirements. I knew there was some sort of package/bid process for NCAA basketball tournament venues, so it makes sense there is a similar thing for IHSAA. Thanks for that clarification. And @foxbat - yes. Washington and Seymour both have gyms with seating capacity somewhere around 8,000 fans. Which is why I'm sure they were chosen. I wouldn't be able to find Chesterton on a map and I think I know where Elkhart is - sorry for my regional bias using south of Indy examples.