A proposal that would have significantly changed how Illinois high school football games are scheduled will not be moving forward as-is.
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) said the proposal was voted down on an all-school ballot during the annual by-law referendum process that ended Tuesday. There were 272 yes votes, 379 no votes, and 76 no-opinion votes.
Under the proposal, schools would have been assigned to one of eight districts based on enrollment, and then those districts would be further divided into eight geographic divisions — each with eight teams. The IHSA would’ve been responsible for scheduling 3-to-9 of the regular season games for all member football schools. That leaves schools to schedule non-conference games in the first two weeks of the season.
Currently, schools are allowed to pick their own athletic conference, and with the IHSA playoffs requiring five wins to qualify, IHSA officials have said many schools would choose conferences based on their best chance to achieve five wins.
“It’s created a lot of angst for schools that are very, very good at football, who struggle to be able to schedule non-conference teams because teams looking for that ‘drive for five’ are not going to put them on their schedule, and in some cases it hurts local rivalries and just traditional rivalries,” IHSA assistant executive director Matt Troha told WGLT earlier this month.
The proposal would have forced some schools to travel greater distances for in-district games. Critics of the plan said it also could limit the number of rivalry games if schools are in different enrollment classes.
A similar plan was initially approved but then repealed in 2019.
“The IHSA Board of Directors has already had discussions about the potential of forming a Football Ad Hoc Committee in 2024 in the event that this district proposal failed to pass," IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said in a statement Tuesday. “They want to be proactive in trying to address the issues that are at the root of different football proposals seemingly being brought forth each year. They recognize the myriad issues in IHSA football are unique and can be based on geography, school size, conference affiliation, and the traditional success of a program, which is why no recent proposals have garnered enough support to pass. There is likely no singular answer to these issues, but the Board wants to explore the idea that a large and diverse group from around the state might be able to find some solutions that the high school football community in the state would support.”
