The prep sports landscape has changed dramatically in the last few decades.
But while some things change, some stay the same. We still love watching student athletes compete and we all want to see IHSA athletics thrive.
As 2024 draws to a close and we look ahead to 2025, let’s discuss some of the topics meandering in my mind.
Private conversation
A former colleague emailed me after I wrote a column addressing the domination of private schools in the state football championships. A wily veteran of the private/public school debate, he remembered the back and forth in the 1970s.
He also noted how the arguments likely will keep going into the 2070s.
I see both sides. It was frustrating for public schools to watch private schools dominate in seven of the eight football title games in November, just as it’s frustrating to see private schools dominate in so many other sports while they recruit athletes within a 30-mile radius.
Public schools, however, don’t seem to mind playing struggling private schools in any of the IHSA state series. There also isn’t much complaining when non-boundaried Chicago Public Schools land in your sectional in most sports other than basketball.
The IHSA took a rapid step earlier this month by shortening the cycle for determining enrollment classifications from two years to one. But that won’t quiet the grumbling on both sides of the debate.
Even if major steps are taken, it’ll be impossible to satisfy everyone.
Checks and balances
I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole “name, image and likeness” situation as it relates to IHSA sports.
Several area athletes, especially in football and basketball, have benefited from the loosened regulations regarding compensation for non-professionals.
Hersey senior quarterback Colton Gumino, who is committed to UCLA, posted a video on X, previewing a commercial for Wilson Football he filmed this fall at Soldier Field.
Carmel Catholic sophomore quarterback Trae Taylor, who already boasts more than 20 scholarship offers, announced last summer a deal with Leaf Trading Cards.
It’s a new world of opportunity for high school athletes. Makes me wonder about the deals some of the great players of the past might’ve been able to ink.
Let’s hear it for the girls
In October, Fremd won the first IHSA state title awarded in girls flag football. The Vikings came out on top among a field of more than 150 teams.
One of the best parts was seeing the support of girls flag football in CPS as three of its teams reached the final eight. The next boost will come from schools shifting from competing at the club level, and the sport continuing to spread throughout central and southern Illinois.
The popularity of girls wrestling, meanwhile, is exploding. According to the National Federation of High Schools, participation numbers nationwide have more than doubled since the 2021-22 school year.
After debuting as an IHSA sanctioned sport in 2021-22, girls wrestling spent two postseasons advancing from sectional competition to state. But last school year, due to the rapid growth, regionals were added at the start of the postseason.
Thanks to countless trailblazers, high school girls sports in the area have thrived for decades. And thanks to the recent additions of flag football and wrestling, the IHSA keeps tapping into different segments of the student population that’s eager to compete.