The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors met for its regularly scheduled meeting at the IHSA office in Bloomington on Monday, June 16, 2025, where the Board voted to approve the hiring of Jesse Baker as the IHSA’s Coordinator of Special Programs and Tre’Sean Hall as the IHSA’s Director of Social Media.
JESSE BAKER | COORDINATOR OF SPECIAL PROGRAMS
Jesse Baker is a 2015 graduate of Southeast High School in Springfield, where he was a four-year member of the Spartan boys soccer team.
“This will be an exciting opportunity for me to work within a field that allows the intersection of education, sports, and activity participation to be my driving force every day,” said Baker. “I’d like to thank Craig Anderson, the IHSA administrative team, and the Board for accepting me for this position. I would also like to thank my family, friends, former work colleagues, and mentors for providing the support structure that has prepared me to excel in this role.”
Baker joins the IHSA after working for the YMCA since 2022. He began his time at the YMCA as a Sports Director in his hometown of Springfield, before accepting a position as the Membership Director at the YMCA of Middle Tennessee in Nashville. Baker then ascended to a Director of Member Engagement and Experience role at the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis in January.
“Jesse has shown tremendous ambition in his time with the YMCA,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “He ascended the ladder quickly, while showing a willingness to step outside his comfort zone by moving to Nashville and Indianapolis. We are excited for him to return home to Central Illinois, where he will have the opportunity to continue to positively impact young people through their participation in IHSA sports and activities.”
Baker completed a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Illinois at Springfield in 2019 and then went on to earn a master’s degree in sports administration from Valparaiso University in 2021. His time at Valparaiso coincided with an internship with the Great Lakes Valley Conference, an NCAA Division II league housed in Indianapolis.
“As a former student-athlete who participated in IHSA programming, I’m excited to use my past experiences as a player, along with the knowledge I have acquired during my professional career, to meaningfully enhance the experience of every student, coach, and administrator I have the opportunity to support in this role,” said Baker.
Baker is slated to begin his tenure with the IHSA in early July. His exact duties are yet to be determined, but are anticipated to include digital ticketing, coordination of state final band and sportsmanship efforts, the IHSA Foundation Golf Outing, the All-School Mailing, and support at several IHSA State Final tournaments.
TRE’SEAN HALL | DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL MEDIA
A former three-sport athlete (Football, Baseball, Wrestling) at Thornton Fractional South High School in Lansing, Tre’Sean Hall brings a wealth of passion and production to the IHSA’s newly created Director of Social Media position.
“I’m very thankful and honored to be selected as the Director of Social Media for the IHSA,” said Hall. “High school sports has always been my passion, and I’m extremely excited to creatively showcase the athletes and coaches that represent the IHSA brand.”
Tre’Sean comes to the IHSA after spending the past two years as a Technical Project Manager at Acrelec America, a global technology company that focuses on customer service experiences for restaurants and retailers.
However, it was his afterhours role that truly defined his fit with the IHSA. Tre’Sean is one of the co-founders of The OFFSZN Brand, a sports medium centered around social media content creation.
“Tre’Sean has an unbridled passion for Illinois high school sports and activities, and we feel fortunate to have him join our staff,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “He is already a pioneer and entrepreneur in this space, and we are excited to see how he uses social media to enhance the IHSA mission and cast a brighter light on the amazing things happening in our high schools every day.”
Tre’Sean and his partner at OFFSZN built and managed a network of content creators that covered sports at all levels, while developing a strong following centered around their coverage of IHSA sports. In addition to managing the OFFSZN’s social media marketing strategy, he also actively covers high school sporting events for OFFSZN, filming and editing footage for distribution on social media. Since launching, The OFFSZN Brand has built a following of 15 thousand plus followers on multiple social media platforms, while producing over 600 videos that have accumulated nearly 2 million views on YouTube alone.
“Our goal with OFFSZN was to provide a platform to highlight high school athletes and programs,” said Hall. “As the Director of Social Media for the IHSA, my goal is to continue doing that for all the sports and activities in the state. Many of my lifelong friendships and memories stem from my time playing sports at TF South. Having the opportunity to tell compelling stories about the students and coaches that currently represent the IHSA is truly a full circle moment for me.”
Tre’Sean graduated from Northern Illinois University in 2022 with a degree in Business Management. He also previously worked as an Operations Analyst with Tegus.