Page 20 - 2015 IHSAA Annual Report

SECTION FIVE 2014-15: A YEAR IN REVIEW

The New Palestine Dragons were
inspired by the loss of former
teammate Brayton Baker all season
long and went on to win the 5A state
football championship.

Serving on the IHSAA Board of Directors is the IHSAA administrative staff is always busy.
far more than a figurehead position. It requires And the 2014-15 school year was no exception.
a significant commitment of time, energy and
constructive thinking. Assessing penalties to The strength of the IHSAA is due, in large part,
student-athletes and high schools that have to an active membership, an engaged board and
violated the By-Laws of the Association, serving an administrative staff that is committed to the
on a variety of committees, determining future job at hand.
tournament site locations, attending state
championship events, providing counsel to the Maintaining A Level Playing Field
administrative staff and approving its activities,
and staying in touch with the thinking of school Despite rulings on isolated eligibility cases that
administrators in his or her district is an on-going maintain a high profile, the IHSAA continued
and challenging task for every board member. to demonstrate a consistently high degree of
fairness and impartiality when dealing with
Meanwhile, the IHSAA commissioners and staff school transfers.
tackle daily responsibilities that often require
more hours than a work day typically has. More than 85% of the 4,131 high school students
Administering 21 state tournaments that involve that transferred to a new Indiana high school
thousands of coaches, players, officials, school during the 2014-15 school year received full
administrators and volunteers requires enor- eligibility, a percentage that is consistent with
mous planning and coordination. In addition, years past. Almost 7% were granted limited
the administrative staff is constantly advocating eligibility while another 7% were ruled tempo-
on behalf of the Association and its 160,000 rarily ineligible. Only 18 students, less than
student-athletes—to state legislators, the media, one-half of one percent, were denied eligibility.
corporate partners (current and prospective),
and the public at large. The staff also makes an As the education system in Indiana continues
on-going effort to be visible at events held by to offer families more choices, the challenges
member-schools. When you add a heavy load of facing the IHSAA regarding the eligibility
eligibility requests to the mix plus an on-going requirements of student-athletes have become
desire to communicate frequently and with increasingly complex and, thus, more time
clarity to its membership, it is easy to see why consuming. Nevertheless, the association’s
administrative staff and the IHSAA’s Review

18 INDIANA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION ANNUAL REPORT 2015