Citing a history richly entwined with the fabric of the state it serves, Indiana High School Athletic Association Commissioner Blake Ress today introduced plans for the IHSAA Centennial Celebration and unveiled key initiatives for its second century of service to the secondary students of Indiana.

Ress made the announcement at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, the site of more than 40 IHSAA state championship events dating to 1928. The gathering included school administrators, coaches, elected officials and business leaders from throughout the state. Special guests included a group of 22 current high school athletes – representing each of the 20 sports sanctioned by the IHSAA – many of whom have earned individual or team IHSAA state championships during their high school careers.

"We’re understandably proud of our history. But we’re even more excited about what the future holds," said Ress, the seventh commissioner of the IHSAA. "As the Association approaches its 100^th birthday we certainly want to celebrate the many wonderful moments of team and individual achievement during the past century. But we also want to create opportunities to serve the high school student-athletes of today and in the future. Our focus during the Centennial celebration and beyond will be on creating opportunities for young people throughout Indiana."

The IHSAA’s centennial year will be celebrated during the 2003-04 school year. The organization, formed by the high school principals of Indiana to bring order to interscholastic athletics, will celebrate the 100^th anniversary of its founding on Dec. 5, 2003. An outline of events and projects during the IHSAA Centennial year follows.

Ress announced the creation of the IHSAA Centennial Scholars program, beginning with the 2003-04 school year. Every IHSAA member high school will be encouraged to nominate one outstanding senior who is an athletic varsity letter winner and who has achieved at least a 3.5 cumulative grade point average. A minimum of 10 nominees will be selected by a panel of Indiana educators to receive a college scholarship from the IHSAA.

In addition, a recognition program for excellence in team academic will begin during the 2003-04 school year. The three varsity teams in each of the 20 IHSAA sports with the highest aggregate grade point average will receive recognition and cash awards.

"The evidence is overwhelmingly conclusive that high school student-athletes have, on average, a higher grade point average than non-athletes," Ress said. "In many ways, high school athletes are the last true amateurs of sport. They compete for the love of the game and they do it within the framework of an educational philosophy. It is only fitting they be recognized for their achievement in the classroom as well as in athletic competition."

In the important area of sportsmanship, Ress said the IHSAA is doubly committed to playing a leadership role to its member schools, their students and fans.

"In the big picture, sportsmanship is more important that state championships in high school athletics," Ress emphasized. "It is critically important for young people to learn to compete with determination, win with grace, lose with dignity, value team over personal accomplishment, and preserver in the face of adversity. Those qualities are the essence of the values we teach through interscholastic competition."

While the IHSAA has promoted sportsmanship since its inception, Ress said the Association would introduce a special initiative during the 2002-03 school year. Sportsmanship kits will be distributed to the member schools that include public address announcements for student bodies and fan groups in general; a video targeted for athletes, parents and coaches; posters that model good sportsmanship for display in school hallways; and ad slicks for use in student publications.

The intensified effort to teach and expect good sportsmanship also will see the creation of recognition for schools that model exemplary conduct. On an annual basis, schools cited for outstanding sportsmanship will earn a special IHSAA banner.

Plans also are being formulated to develop an annual event that will salute and say thank you to the more than 8,000 men and women across the state who provide exemplary and selfless service to the young people of Indiana as IHSAA licensed officials.

"This is an ambitious project but it is a necessary one," said Ress, a former contest official in several IHSAA sports, most notably basketball and baseball. "There are a lot of negative influences in the world today. The IHSAA can help provide a balance by making a more concentrated effort to encourage and reward good sportsmanship."

The IHSAA Centennial Celebration year will include:

• Commemorative patches to be worn on the uniforms of all athletes and game officials.
• Gathering of significant memorabilia that will culminate in the publication of a commemorative history book and a companion video saluting the history of high school athletics in Indiana.
• The introduction of an interactive Fanfest/Teen Expo in conjunction with the football state finals in November 2003.
• Centennial competitions in basketball, wrestling and swimming during the state finals football weekend in close proximity to the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.
• A celebration banquet on December 5, 2003 for the Association’s 100^th birthday.
• A special salute to start the second century of state finals competition with the 101^st state meet. The first IHSAA state finals in any sport was May 14, 1904 in Bloomington when Bloomington High School won the inaugural boys track and field state championship.

While several regional athletic associations were formed around the state in the late 1890s, there was no statewide organization that administered athletics. Game rules were not uniform and abuses were common, including undue influence and non-students representing high schools in interscholastic competition. In the spring of 1903 at a teachers convention in Richmond, the seeds of a state high school athletic governing body were sewn. Common concerns were voiced, high school principals in attendance resolved to bring interscholastic competition under their direction, and an executive committee of six principals was formed. That session, long known as the "Richmond Agreement," led to another meeting on December 5, 1903 with some 50 representatives of Indiana high schools gathering in the office of F.A. Cotton, state superintendent of public instruction, for the purpose of establishing a statewide athletic association. That meeting produced a provisional constitution, which was based on the constitution of the recently formed Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. On December 29, 1903, that constitution was presented to a meeting of high school principals from around the state. In part, that original constitution stated:

The first IHSAA Board of Control was elected at the December 29, 1903 meeting. George W. Benton, principal of Indianapolis Shortridge High School, was elected chairman. L.D. Coffman, superintendent at Salem, was elected as treasurer, and J.T. Giles, principal of Marion High School, as secretary.

No record exists detailing which schools joined the IHSAA immediately. But the IHSAA Handbook of 1928 lists 15 schools as charter members. Those schools were: Anderson, Alexandria, Bloomington, Eaton, Fairmount, Goshen, Huntington, Indianapolis Manual Training, Indianapolis Shortridge, Kokomo, Marion, Noblesville, North Manchester, Salem and Wabash. By April 1, 1904, membership had increased to 33 schools. By December 1904, membership reached 71 schools.

The IHSAA is a voluntary, not-for-profit organization that is self-supporting without the use of tax monies. Since its founding in 1903, the Association’s mission has been to provide wholesome, educational athletics for the secondary schools of Indiana. Its 387 member high schools – public, institutional, parochial and private – pay no annual membership fee or incur entry fees to play in the Association’s tournaments. A state tournament series is conducted annually in 20 sports, 10 for girls and 10 for boys. A 21-person board of directors, elected by the member school principals, governs the organization.

Scott Garrard, a senior at Brownsburg, became the school’s all-time rushing leader Sept. 28 when he rambled for 148 yards and scored three touchdowns in a 35-20 victory at Harrison (West Lafayette). Garrard left the game with 2,537 yards, surpassing the previous mark of 2,429 yards.

Casey Gillin, a junior at Indian Creek, became the first player in school history to pass for more than 2,000 yards in a season. He did it with a 355-yard performance Sept. 28 while leading the undefeated Braves to a 49-22 triumph over visiting North Decatur. Gillin, who leads the state in passing with an average of 321.1 yards a game along with 20 touchdowns, hit 19 of 31 passes to move his season yardage total to 2,248 yards. Only 12 players in state history have thrown for 3,000 yards in the season, most recently in 2000 by Jake Schiff of Evansville Mater Dei (3,780) and Brett Rhatigan of Lafayette Jefferson (3,183).