The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public and private

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. It monitors a system that divides athletically-competing high schools in Indiana based on the school's enrollment. The divisions, known as classes, are intended to foster fair competition among schools of similar sizes. A school ranked 3A is larger than a school ranked 1A, but not as large as a 6A-ranked school. Only football has 6 classes. Boys' basketball, girls' basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball are divided into four classes. Boys' and girls' soccer have featured three classes since the 2017–18 school year. All other sports compete in a single class.

Structure

The IHSAA is divided into three board of director districts: northern, central, and southern. For the state tournament, there are two divisions. The northern district is composed of 21 of Indiana's counties consisting the northern third of Indiana. The southern district is composed of the remaining 71 counties and includes all of the

Indianapolis area Indianapolis–Carmel–Anderson or Indianapolis metropolitan area is an 11-county metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Indiana, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. The metropolitan area is situated in Central Indiana, within the ...

except Boone,

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, and

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

counties. It is from these two districts, the top two teams meet at the state finals usually held in or around

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. In the regular season, most of the member-schools' sports activities are governed by one, sometimes two or even three of Indiana's 51 athletic conferences. Some conferences only offer one sport while the school participates in a primary conference for all other sports. Other schools maintain independence in certain sports, like football or basketball. Some smaller sports are governed by other organizations in Indiana. For example, boys' ice hockey is under the auspices of the Indiana State High School Hockey Association (ISHSHA). High school hockey in Indiana is concentrated in the northern portion of the state, around Indianapolis, plus a few other areas, such as Columbus and Evansville.

Primary Athletic Conferences

* Allen County * Blue Chip * Central Indiana Athletic * Circle City Conference *

Conference Indiana Conference Indiana (CI) is an athletic conference within the Indiana High School Athletic Association. Conference Indiana was initially formed from the union of surviving members of the Central Suburban Athletic Conference (CSAC) and the South Ce ...

* Duneland Athletic * Eastern Indiana Athletic * Great Lakes Athletic * Greater South Shore Athletic * Hoosier Athletic * Hoosier Crossroads * Hoosier Heartland * Hoosier Heritage * Hoosier Hills * Hoosier North * Indiana Crossroads * Indianapolis Public * Metropolitan Interscholastic * Mid-Eastern * Mid-Hoosier * Mid-Indiana * Midland * Mid-Southern * Mid-State * Midwest Athletic * North Central Athletic * Northeast Corner * Northeast Eight * Northern Indiana Athletic * Northern Lakes * Northern State * Northland * Northwest Crossroads * Northwestern *

Ohio River Valley The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illinoi ...

Patoka Lake Patoka Lake is the second-largest reservoir in the U.S. state of Indiana (after Lake Monroe) and is spread across Dubois, Crawford, and Orange counties in southern Indiana. Lake Created as a joint effort between the US Army Corps of Engineers a ...

* Pocket Athletic *

Porter County Porter County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2020, the population was 173,215, making it the 10th most populous county in Indiana. The county seat is Valparaiso. The county is part of Northwest Indiana, as well as the Chicago m ...

* Sagamore * Southern Athletic * Southern Indiana Athletic * Southern Roads (Effective 2018-19) *

Southwest Indiana Southwestern Indiana is an 11-county region of southern Indiana, United States located at the southernmost and westernmost part of the state. As of the 2010 census, the region's combined population is 474,251. Evansville, Indiana's third-largest ...

* Summit Athletic * Three Rivers * Tri-Eastern * Tri-River *

Wabash River The Wabash River ( French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows fro ...

* Western Indiana

Secondary Sport-Specific Conferences

* Mid-Indiana Football * Southwest Seven Football

Independents

* IHSAA Independents

Controversy

In 2010, the association faced a state lawsuit over the scheduling of girls’ basketball games, which some programs believed disadvantaged girls’ teams by giving more favorable dates and times to boys’ programs. The association won the case when an Indiana judge ruled the schedule was not discriminatory.

References

External links

Indiana High School Athletic Association

IHSAA School Directory - Part I

IHSAA School Directory - Part II
{{Authority control Education in Indiana High school sports associations in the United States Sports organizations established in 1903 High school sports in Indiana Non-profit organizations based in Indianapolis 1903 establishments in Indiana