Page 56 - 2025-26 By-Laws

Rule 9 - Contests

9-4 All Organized Athletic Contests are Considered a “Contest”
Participation of students in an organized athletic Contest during the Contest Season with or
against players not attending their School constitutes a game. An unauthorized organized
scrimmage or practice during the Contest Season by student athletes with or against teams
or players not belonging to their school is considered a game. It is not considered a game
when players are from a junior high school and its parent school.
9-5 Official’s Decisions are Final
In all Contests the decisions of the officials shall be considered final and binding.
9-6 Member Schools Limited to One Tournament Series Team; Students May Only
Represent Their Own School
Member Schools may maintain any number of teams in the same sport, but only One (1) team
may represent a School in an IHSAA Tournament Series. Students may represent:
a. only the School in which they are presently Enrolled;
b. only One (1) School in any sport during a Tournament Series; and
c. only One (1) team in an IHSAA Tournament Series.
9-7 Unsanctioned School Athletic Activities Shall Not Be Combined with IHSAA
Sanctioned Contests
High school intra-squad scrimmages and athletic Contests shall not be conducted as
preliminaries, curtain raisers or double headers to non-school sponsored athletic team sport
events.
9-8 All-Boys Teams May Not Compete Against All-Girl Teams
All-boys teams and all-girls teams shall not participate against each other in an interschool
athletic Contest.
9-9 Participation in Interscholastic Competition on Single Gender Sport Teams.
The IHSAA recognizes boys baseball, boys basketball, boys cross country, football, boys
golf, boys soccer, boys swimming, boys tennis, boys track and field, boys volleyball and boys
wrestling as Single Gender Sports offered just to male students and recognizes girls basketball,
girls cross country, girls flag football, girls golf, gymnastics, girls lacrosse, girls soccer, girls
swimming, softball, girls tennis, girls track and field, girls volleyball and girls wrestling as Single
Gender Sports offered just to female students.
a. A student’s interscholastic participation in a School’s program in a Single Gender Sport is
limited to students whose Birth Gender matches the gender of the Single Gender Sport.
b. A student whose Birth Gender is male may not participate in a Single Gender Sport program
for female students.
c. A student whose Birth Gender is female may not participate in a Single Gender Sport
program for male students.
d. Exception:
(1.) During the Contest Season: if a School has boys’ program in baseball, basketball,
football, or soccer, but not a comparable girls’ program in those sports (for the purposes
of this section baseball and softball are not comparable sports), a female student
may participate in the School’s boys’ program in baseball, basketball, football, and
soccer.
(2.) During a Tournament Series:
a) if a School has a boys’ program in baseball, or football, a female student may
participate in the School’s programs in those sports, and
b) if a School has a boys’ program in basketball or soccer, but does not have a
girls’ program in those sports, a female student may participate in the School’s
boys’ program in those sports, but
c) in cross-country, golf, swimming and diving, tennis, track and fi eld, or wrestling,
a female student may not participate in any boys’ program in those sports, but
may only participate in the girls’ program in those sports during the Tournament
Series.
e. Election of Tournament Participation in Newly Recognized Sports
(1.) When a sport is opened to Two (2) gender groups, prior participants can elect to
participate in either gendered Tournament, subject to the following conditions:

42