Page 16 - 2021 IHSAA Annual Report

2019–20: The Year in Review
THE 2020 – 2021 YEAR IN REVIEW THE 2020 – 2021 YEAR IN REVIEW

This Is Your IHSAA to persevere through tough times are the same A masked Governor Holcomb gives a thumbs-up
attributes student-athletes develop when they at the IHSAA Boys Basketball State Finals in
As we conclude our review of the 2020-21 participate in high school sports. April 2021. Attending the games at Bankers
school year, let’s not forget we are celebrating Life Fieldhouse has become an annual
the student-athlete and, by extension, Local communities need high school sports as tradition—and because of the efforts of his
high school athletics as a profound much as the student-athletes need the support administration, attendance was possible.
educational tool. However, it’s not just the of their communities. We are proud to say
student-athlete who the IHSAA serves, that these communities were not forgotten
and it’s not just the student-athlete who during the pandemic—the IHSAA Champions
benefitted from this strangely adverse Network also made high school sports possible
year. Our entire state benefitted because for non-competitors too. The Network
a multitude of individuals from local high radically expanded its sports coverage by
school communities throughout the state providing access to games and content so the
worked together to make sure we prioritized student body and all fans could watch from the
our high school student-athletes’ education safety and comfort of home.
by making competition possible.
While the Network employed a pay-per-view
When we look back at how we navigated the model for some events, this was to absorb the
pandemic, we see who we truly are as an cost of producing countless streams. We are
association. We had to make a lot of difficult also proud to note that additional revenue
decisions very quickly—and our success is from the pay-per-view model was funded back
a testament to the values that make up the to the membership to make their schools as
foundation of our organization. financially whole as possible when they too
were unable to make proceeds from ticket
The people of Indiana share these values and sales. We’ll expound more on the Association’s
realize how important high school sports and communications efforts and Champions
education-based athletics are to our state Network later in the report.
culture—it took an immeasurable amount of
teamwork from innumerable individuals to We have paused to reflect on last year, and that
make competition possible. The pandemic also has given us a glimpse of who we truly are.
taught us that what’s required for a community When you are confronted with adversity you
see your true self when you beat it. To that end,
it’s clear who we are: an association dedicated
to promoting education-based athletics
because they teach the right lessons, lessons
that allow our local and state communities to
survive a pandemic and thrive in the future.

Though this annual report celebrates the
student-athlete, the recap of this past year
emphasizes that the Association belongs to
everyone, and we will continue to emphasize
that with our tagline: This Is Your IHSAA.

What do you want it to be?

High school sports benefit more than just the
student-athletes who participate in them. The
lessons they teach, and the values that they instill
extend far into the community.

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