Page 67 - 2020 IHSAA Annual Report

Champions and Award Winners

The record book

looks much different

this year.

During a normal school year, the IHSAA presents 46 state
championship trophies and 44 Mental Attitude Awards. But
there were only 29 state championship teams and 28 Mental
Attitude Award winners this year.

The difference, of course, was the March cancellation of school
and school sports for the remainder of the year.

The student-athletes who were high school seniors and missed
their final spring sports season because of the coronavirus
deserve special recognition. Months of training, mental prepa-
ration and anticipation were lost to a worldwide pandemic that
eliminated jobs, closed businesses and interrupted lifestyles in
unimaginable ways.

What was gained, however, was an unforgettable taste of the
life lessons education-based athletics teach. Persistence,
courage, the power of togetherness and the refusal to cower
in the face of adversity were among the lessons learned by
virtually every high school senior in Indiana.

Approximately 97% of those graduating seniors will never play
an organized sport again. And yet, their character is stronger
and their future is brighter because of their experience as a
high school athlete. While their reward may not be a cham-
pionship trophy or Mental Attitude Award, their lives will be
richer because of their participation.

To each of them, we offer a special salute!

Although it’s everyone’s goal, the majority of student-athletes who
participate in a high school sport don’t win a championship or receive
a medal. They do, however, make friends and have fun—which is the
ultimate purpose of high school sports.

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