IHSA

How You Can Help

The IHSA records are built on the efforts of volunteers (see the credits at the bottom of this page). In a state a large as Illinois, with over 700 schools and dozens of sports and activities to cover, the only way we can hope to stay on top of things is through the work of interested individuals.

There are a number of topics where your help would be most useful. Some of them are outlined below, along with some tips on getting started. If you decide on a research topic, please contact us. With your permission, we'll post your name on this page so that others may contact you (and so that you may contact other researchers) with similar interests.

If you are interested in research topics that are not listed here, do not hesitate to undertake them. All research is good research.

For information on the research program, please contact Scott Johnson (scott@ihsa.org).

Possible Research Topics

1. Won-Lost Records and Coaches' Names

In 1989, the IHSA asked its member schools to compile lists of their yearly won-lost records and coaches' names in all purely team sports (baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, volleyball). About 40% of the schools responded, though most of the responses did not contain complete information. These records for boys basketball and football only were entered into a database, published, and distributed to the media, but have not been added to since, with the exception of football won-lost records starting in 1994. In 1998, these incomplete won-lost records were posted on the IHSA Web site, so that we could begin soliciting corrections and additions.

As these records become more complete, we intend to publish totals and a cross-listing by coach.

Your job: Review the online listings for schools in your area. Update and correct the records where necessary. Add records for the missing sports. Fill in missing won-lost records and coaches' names.

Where to start: Sometimes yearly records have already been compiled and are published in souvenir programs sold at games. If not, school yearbooks are a great resource. Go through them one-by-one and make a list of the records and coaches for each sport. Your local newspaper may keep track of yearly records. Additional help, especially for early years, may be obtained from newspaper microfilms at your local library.

How to submit: We'll take submissions in any form — mail, fax, or e-mail. If you're e-mailing, it would help us tremendously if you could type your submission according to the following example:

Elgin (H.S.)
Boys basketball
1990, 15, 12, 0, Jim Harrington
1991, 17, 10, 0, Jim Harrington
1992, 23, 3, 0, Jim Harrington

Note that the zero in fourth column indicates ties.

2. Missing Medalists

Starting with the centennial boys track meet in 1993, the IHSA has compiled lists of medalists from all of its individual tournaments (archery, badminton, bowling, cross country, debate, golf, gymnastics, speech individual events, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and wrestling). These lists are published on the Web under each sport or activity.

In addition, the IHSA has compiled complete boxscores of all state tournament basketball games in boys and girls basketball on the marchmadness.org Web site.

Most of these lists are now complete. A few, however, are missing the first names of some of the early medalists (mostly prior to 1950). The affected sports are boys basketball, boys cross country, boys golf, boys gymnastics, boys swimming & diving, boys tennis, and boys track & field.

Your job: Review the online listings for schools in your area in each sport. Track down the missing first names.

Where to start: School yearbooks are a great resource, but be careful. Early yearbooks frequently do not give first names under photos of athletic teams. You can cross-reference with the class photos in the front of the book, but be sure you have a match. Additional help may be obtained from newspaper microfilms at your local library. If you need help determining the date of a particular state tournament, please contact Scott Johnson.

How to submit: We'll take submissions in any form — mail, fax, or e-mail.

3. All-Time Records

The IHSA has published lists of all-time records (records set in regular-season play) since 1984. Most of the records are submitted by coaches, parents, and fans. Still, the vast majority of eligible records never get reported, except in certain high-profile categories (Most Wins by a Coach, Most Points in a Game). It's important to note that the IHSA publishes more than just the top mark in each category. Instead, we frequently list up to 100 marks.

Your job: Review the records published by schools in your area. Compare those records to the official IHSA records and submit those that are eligible for inclusion.

Where to start: The record board in the high school gym or field house is a good starting point for locating a school's records. Sometimes records are published in souvenir programs sold at games. Your local newspaper may keep track of (and occasionally publish) school records.

How to submit: We'll take submissions in any form — mail, fax, or e-mail.

4. All-State Teams

We frequently gets questions about past All-State Teams. So far the only comprehensive lists that have been compiled are for boys and girls basketball. The IHSA has never chosen All-State teams. Instead, they are picked by major newspapers, wire services, or coaches' associations. Since they are based on subjective criteria, the "accuracy" of these lists varies. For this reason, volunteer Dave Quinn researched All-State basketball teams from three different newspapers and combined them into a grand list of All-Staters.

Your job: Find lists of All-State teams and compile them into a master list for each sport, by year. You may want to check with Scott Johnson to make sure you are not duplicating someone else's work.

Where to start: You'll have to go to the newspaper microfilms for these, unless you can find someone (or some newspaper) with a collection of clippings. It helps to know approximately when the teams are published, so start with the most recent year and work backwards.

How to submit: We'll take submissions in any form — mail, fax, or e-mail.

5. Historical Publications about Illinois High School Sports

The IHSA has a small collection of books and booklets that have been published about high school sports topics. Most have very small print runs and distribution only within the local community. The IHSA would like to obtain as many of these publications as possible in order to begin a library for researchers.

Your job: Find historical publications on local sports topics.

Where to start: You might check your bookstore or library, especially in the local history section.

How to submit: The IHSA will help defray expenses if you need to purchase a copy, but please contact us first before spending your own money (we have a limit). Of course, we would be happy to receive donated copies. If a book is out-of-print or unavailable, we would still like to know about it and its whereabouts, so that we can point other researchers to it.

6. Historical Articles

Are you a good writer with a penchant for history? The IHSA has published several articles in our Illinois H.S.toric section. We'll be glad to put your article online for the world to see if it is about an Illinois high school sports topic and is well written and researched.

Your job: This one's pretty much up to you.

How to submit: We'll appreciate submissions via e-mail so that we do not have to retype your material.

Credits

Jim Flynn, Assistant Executive Director, began development of the IHSA records upon his hiring in 1973 and started the all-time records (records set during regular-season play) in 1984.

Scott Johnson, Assistant Executive Director, and unofficial IHSA historian, researched many historical topics prior to his hiring in 1994 and reorganized and computerized the records for the Web.

Jerry Bretag, retired sports editor of the Quad-City Times, updates and researches the IHSA records. To contact Jerry directly, please call 815-434-2662.

Our heartfelt thanks go to the following volunteers whose work has added immensely to the history of Illinois High School Association sports and activities:

Howard Millard, Decatur	groundbreaking research in boys basketball tournament scores
C.M. Duff, Farmer City	groundbreaking research in boys basketball tournament scores
Pat Heston, Bethalto	history of boys basketball
Robert Pruter, Elmhurst	histories of several sports (see Illinois H.S.toric), Illinois Olympians, first names of early medalists
Nelson Campbell, Park Ridge	history of boys basketball and tennis, author of Grass Roots and Schoolyards and Illinky
Henry & Ken Mayes, Lincoln	boys basketball and boys football won-lost records
Bob Mason, Dupo	boys basketball and boys football won-lost records
Curt & Chuck Herron, Lockport	boys basketball team titles and 1000-win club
Ray Schmidt, Lockport	boys football history and records
Dave Quinn, Naperville	boys and girls basketball state tournament boxscores and All-State teams
Shawn Powell, Brighton	author of Classical Madness

Current Researchers and Topics

Your name here!