Difference between revisions of "IHSA"

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The '''Illinois High School Association''' governs many sports and activities in Illinois, including [[Illinois Scholastic Bowl]].
 
The '''Illinois High School Association''' governs many sports and activities in Illinois, including [[Illinois Scholastic Bowl]].
  
−
===History===
+
==History==
 +
The IHSA was founded in 1900, and is the second oldest (Wisconsin) state high school athletic/activities governing organization.
 +
 
 
The IHSA started sponsoring a Scholastic Bowl State Tournament in 1986-7, with [[Quincy]] beating Salem in the first ever Championship Match. In 1991-92, IHSA split into two classes, with [[Rockridge]] winning the first Class A (small school) Championship.
 
The IHSA started sponsoring a Scholastic Bowl State Tournament in 1986-7, with [[Quincy]] beating Salem in the first ever Championship Match. In 1991-92, IHSA split into two classes, with [[Rockridge]] winning the first Class A (small school) Championship.
  
−
===Governance===
+
==Governance==
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Though its recommendations need to be approved by administrative committees, most decisions regarding IHSA Scholastic Bowl are made by the Scholastic Bowl Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee consists of seven people who have one closed meeting per year, typically in April or May, that is run by an IHSA Administrator. Decisions made by the Advisory Committee are encoded into the Terms & Conditions, Rule Book, and Case Manual. Until about 2002, the only one of these documents to exist was the Terms & Conditions.
+
The IHSA claims that it is a private organization, with almost 800 member schools, and a small number of affiliate and approved schools who do not hold full membership.
 +
 
 +
The highest authority of the IHSA is the Board of Directors.  The Board consists of ten principals, one each from the seven geographical districts determined long ago by the IHSA, and three "at-large" positions which are voted statewide and reserved for a woman, an underrepresented ethnic minority, and a private school.  The Board also appoints a principal to a non-voting Treasurer position.
 +
 
 +
The operation of the IHSA is charged to an Executive Director and a team of (currently nine) Assistant Executive Directors (AED).  Each assistant executive director is given direct oversight of a number of sports and activities (in addition to other responsibilities).  In 2017, Scholastic Bowl was given a new AED, [[Kraig Garber]].
 +
 
 +
Each sport and activity has its own Advisory Committee (AdCo). The committee is chaired by the sport/activity's respective AED, and includes a representative from each of the IHSA's seven districts.  While most of the representatives are head coaches, one is always an athletic or activities director.  In sports, one seat is usually reserved for an official.  The IHSA Scholastic Bowl AdCo does not have a seat reserved for an official, however, some time after 2010, the chief question editor, and the supervisor of officials for the State Tournament were elevated to voting positions on the AdCo, after being non-voting invitees for many years.  The Scholastic Bowl AdCo meets once each year in closed session, usually in late April or early May.
 +
 
 +
The AdCo meets and debates changes to rules (which govern the game) and terms and conditions (which govern state tournament structure).  The committee can vote on changes, which the AED then brings to the Board of Directors.  In general, the Board of Directors will rubber stamp the recommendations, but since this is a closed session, it is difficult to determine what happens in these approval meetings.  In both 2012 and 2013, the Board of Directors rejected the elimination of language arts questions despite that having been approved by the committee in both years.
 +
 
 +
While most sports have case manuals to assist coaches and officials to interpret rules published by that sport's respective national federation, the lack of an organization for quiz bowl means non existed for Scholastic Bowl. Around 2002, a Case Manual was assembled by a handful of officials, and is published by the IHSA.  The AdCo also oversees changes to that book.
 +
 
 +
==Match Format==
 +
From its inception, and into the 21st century, IHSA State matches (and thus many local tournament and conference matches) used the "IHSA Format". This can be summed up as:
 +
:10 point tossups (no negs or powers)
 +
:Bonuses could bounceback to the other team.
 +
:Teams got ten seconds to answer after a tossup was done being read (30 seconds for computational questions).
 +
:Bonuses were worth a maximum of 20 points. Bonuses could be four parts (5 points each), five parts (4 points each), or three parts (6 points for a team getting any one part right, 13 for getting any two parts right, and 20 for all three
 +
:Bonus parts were read all at once, with teams getting up to 30 seconds to confer on all of the parts.
  
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===Format===
+
Additionally, there were other strange behavior rules that included the requirement that players put pencils down when time was called on a bonus (a rule that persists in Illinois Middle School competition). The only remaining odd behavior rule is the requirement that teams appearing in IHSA competitions must wear matching shirts that also must adhere to certain requirements of decorum.  If a team fields a player lacking a proper matching top, their opponent is given 30 points to start the match.
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Many of the Advisory Committee rules have to do with match format. Some of the ways in which IHSA questions are different than [[mACF]] are: bonus parts are read all at once followed by up to thirty seconds for teams to discuss, there is a lot of computation as well as some grammar and extremely annoying miscellaneous topics, matches are 30/30 in length, and teams must have exactly five students. Another rule which generally is only enforced during the State Tournament is that teams must wear matching tops.
 
  
−
All tossups are worth 10 points, with no [[power|powers]] or [[neg|negs]]. Bonuses have either three, four, or five parts worth a total of 20 points each. Three-part bonuses earn teams six points for the first part they get correct, 13 points if two are answered correctly, or 20 for all three; four-part bonuses are worth five points per part; five-part bonuses are worth four points per part. People seem to think this is okay because "it helps prevent ties" and "three-part bonuses' parts are harder than those of four- or five-part bonuses, while five-part bonuses' parts are easier than those of three- or four-part bonuses", even though the first reason is silly and the latter is nonsensical since it's unrealistic for anyone to modulate the difficulty of their questions that precisely. Teams have 30 seconds (which they may end early) to work on all the bonus parts at once; parts not answered correctly by the controlling team rebound to the other, which has no additional conferral time.
+
Over time, due to concerted efforts by players, coaches, and former players, these rules were changed to become somewhat more aligned with national rules. In 2012-13, IHSA switched to a bonus format similar to [[NSC]] in which bonus parts are read one part at a time, and each bonus has three parts worth ten points each, with bouncebacks.
  
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The tournament seeds the top eight teams in each Sectional, plays a Single Elimination Regional, plays a Round Robin Sectional with head-to-head as the top tiebreaker, and plays pools at State, which has been held in the Peoria Civic Center since 1997.
+
==Distribution==
 +
For most of its history, IHSA questions have been distributed according to six categories: Math, Science, Language Arts, Social Studies, Fine Arts, and Miscellaneous.  For most of the 1990s and into the early 2000s, Math, Science, Language Arts, and Social Studies were considered "major categories", with Fine Arts and Miscellaneous being considered "minor categories".  When Illinois used a 30/30 match length, major categories each had 6/6 questions, with minor categories being 3/3 questions.  When Illinois used 24/24 matches, major categories were each represented by 5/5, and minor categories were represented by 2/2.  Each of these six categories had sub-categories which were used as guides for writers to draw questions from, though the head editor had full control of how many questions would come from each sub-category, if at all.
  
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===Distribution===
+
The IHSA distribution has traditionally had more math and computation than most other distributions in the US.  For much of that time, computation was not limited to math, and at one time there was no limit at all on the number of possible computation questions.  Since 2005, the amount of math and computation has been gradually curtailed, and a push to increase the amount of literature and Social Studies has brought the distribution more in line with good practice (though the math requirement remains high compared to most states).
−
6/6 Science (of which 5/5 is Biology, Chemistry, and Physics)
 
−
6/6 Math
 
−
6/6 Social Studies (of which 3/3 is History)
 
−
6/6 Literature and Language Arts (5/5 of the former and 1/1 of the latter)
 
−
4/4 Fine Arts
 
−
2/2 Miscellaneous (including some Agriculture, Family Consumer Science, Drivers Education, Industrial Arts, and Consumer Education)
 
  
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===Questions===
+
The Language Arts category traditionally had a much larger distribution of grammar, spelling, and speech. These sub-categories was also eventually whittled away, leaving a stronger "Literature" category in use today.
−
Illinois quizbowl had, over its history, been almost exclusively tied to short "buzzer-beater" questions, with bonus questions that were often patterned and varied wildly in difficulty. During the 1990s, questions were written by [[Answers Plus]], which often had incorrect answers in packets and vague questions that led to arguments. As more and more teams began to see how quizbowl was played in other states, the demands for better questions crescendoed.
 
  
−
Starting in 2000, a question-writing cabal was put together consisting largely of former coaches, though over time several college students and recent college grads joined the group. The question-writing cabal remains secretive; even those inside it are deliberately kept as in-the-dark as possible. After the questions for [[2009 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2009]] were particularly awful, [[Jonah Greenthal]] explored several channels to find out as much as he could about it; what he discovered is documented [http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=123377#p123377 here]. Writers who have outed themselves include Greenthal, [[Matt Laird]] (beginning [[2010 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2010]]), [[Trygve Meade]], and [[Kelly Tourdot]]; while self-outed former writers include [[Tom Egan]], [[Donald Taylor]], and [[Matt Weiner]]. The results have been of mixed quality.
+
The Miscellaneous questions are known for very quirky sub-categories, including "Agriculture", "Drivers Ed", "Health", "Home Economics", "Pop Culture", and "Industrial Arts".  The set editor has complete control over which sub-categories are written about.  In the past, there was a concerted effort to represent all areas, which led to poor questions in order to satisfy a sub-distribution. The "Interdisciplinary" subcategory under Miscellaneous allows for more academic content to be represented.
 +
 
 +
The current distribution of 24/24 (and sub-distributions):
 +
:4/4 Social Studies (1/1 Geography, 1/1 Religion, 1/1 Mythology, and 1/1 Social Sciences)
 +
:4/4 History
 +
:4/4 Literature (2/2 US Lit, 2/2 from Language Arts, Brit Lit, World Lit)
 +
:4/4 Science (3/3 Bio, Chem, Physics, 1/1 other science)
 +
:4/4 Math (No computational tossups)
 +
:3/3 Fine Arts (at least 1/1 Visual Arts and 1/1 Music)
 +
:1/1 Miscellaneous (primarily Interdisciplinary and Pop Culture)
 +
 
 +
While the head editor does not have control over the mandated distribution as shown, they have greater discretion over the sub-distribution.  The editor can decide to include no Language Arts and have that part of the sub-distribution cover only British and/or World Lit, for example.
 +
 
 +
==State Series Format==
 +
The IHSA State Series uses a Regional-Sectional-State format, and in two classes (AA for large schools, A for smaller schools).
 +
 
 +
===Classification===
 +
Since 2018, a school's classification is determined by sorting all participating teams evenly between each division based on their enrollment. In recent years that split has hovered around 500 students and fluctuates every year. Schools that are smaller than this cutoff may compete in Class AA for various reasons. Their enrollment is inflated by a "private school" multiplier, the team has seen perennial top placement in the tournament or simply has requested to play up ([https://www.ihsa.org/data/school/2019-21%20cycle/New%20Classification%20Policy%20explainer.pdf]). 
 +
 
 +
Schools are then assigned, geographically to one of eight sectionals in their class (usually in January). Each sectional consists of approximately 24-40 schools.  This means that despite roughly 70% of Illinois' population being from Chicago and the collar counties while a vast majority of schools are small schools located in central, western, or southern Illinois, only 5 of the 16 sectionals (1 Class A and 4 Class AA) represent the greater Chicago area. This follows from the IHSA's philosophy on all of their state series ([http://www.ihsa.org/documents/forms/current/IHSA_Policies.pdf p. 101]) which states ''The State Series is designed to determine a State Champion. The State Series is not intended to necessarily advance the best teams in the state to the State Final.'' This philosophy has created a degree of concern between players, coaches, officials, and the IHSA as they are specifically against the advancement of top teams, and that teams advancing to the IHSA state tournament become frustrated when they have advanced, but that advancement does not translate into further recognition or respect in polls or All-State awards. It has also led to issues where teams which are not considered near the "top 8" in their class are blown out in state-level competition, and then complain that the questions or opponents were too tough.  The IHSA has generally refused to address this in the past, though writers and editors, and the [[IHSSBCA]] have tinkered with the question writing process at various times to allow for better accessibility of answer lines to teams that are competing at the state level, but may not truly be state level teams.
 +
 
 +
===Seeding & Hosts===
 +
Following Sectional assignments coaches will then submit season records & vote to determine the top 8 teams in mid-February. Since 2017, this process has been done online over two days rather than in-person. Afterward, the IHSA will place each team into one of four Regional tournaments composed of single-elimination brackets, with an effort made to separate the top 8 seeds (1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5), and arrange them so that seeds only meet in the Regional finals. Lastly, the remaining assignments in the brackets are filled out taking into consideration geography & submitted team records.
 +
 
 +
Sectional hosts are typically pre-determined by the IHSA before the seeding process. However Regional hosts are determined during the seeding process with schools denoting their interest in hosting, with preference given to the top-4 seeds.
 +
 
 +
The State Finals are held by a single host. Since 2022, the tournament has been held at Heartland Community College in Normal, Illinois. Previously, the tournament was hosted by the Peoria Civic Center with a few other down-state schools also hosting in the earliest years.
 +
 
 +
===Tournament Structure===
 +
Regional tournaments are held on the first Monday of March, with the winners of the four Regionals advancing to Sectionals that Saturday.
 +
 
 +
A Sectional is composed of a four-team round-robin, with winners advancing to the State Finals. If there is a tie between two teams, it is broken based on head-to-head results, with a three-way tie broken based on the total scores of the teams scored against the other tied teams.  While this is far from ideal, until 2003, the Sectionals were three rounds of single-elimination (both the regional champions and runners-up advanced to sectionals).  Because all IHSA team sports use single-elimination, the IHSA has been very uneasy about Scholastic Bowl playing in a round-robin format, and at least one administrator claimed that he needed to constantly explain to sports coaches why Scholastic Bowl was allowed a rare dispensation to allow for a round-robin Sectional Tournament, this despite team chess having abandoned single elimination back in the 1970s.
 +
 
 +
The State Championship Tournament is held on the following Friday or Saturday. Since 2001, the winners of the 8 sectionals in each class are randomly assigned to one of two pools of four teams. Each team plays the three other teams in their pool, with the top teams in each pool advancing to the state championship, and the runner-ups in each of the pools playing a third-place match.  Ties in each pool are broken according to the same rules in the Sectional. Prior to 2001, the State Finals were a single-elimination tournament.
 +
 
 +
==Writing & Editing==
 +
Since 2001 the IHSA has hired a secret cabal to write its questions. In 2001 and 2002 the editor was [[Tom Egan]], who proposed that system.  From 2003-2017 the editor was [[Sister John Baricevic]].  In 2017, [[Brad Fischer]] became the new head editor, and is the first head editor with practical playing experience.
 +
 
 +
In 2013 the set contained several [[plagiarism|plagiarized]] questions, which was the subject of the [[IHSA plagiarism scandal]]. For about a decade prior to 2001, the questions were provided by [[Answers Plus]].
 +
 
 +
Writers who have admitted their involvement with the IHSA writing process include the following:
 +
*[[Sister John Baricevic]] (editor, 2003–17)
 +
*[[Tom Egan]] (editor, 2001–02; writer in some other years)
 +
*[[Brad Fischer]] (editor beginning 2018)
 +
*[[Jonah Greenthal]] (2010–12)
 +
*[[Matt Laird]] (2010–11)
 +
*[[Greg Peterson]] (2013)
 +
*[[Shawn Pickrell]] (several years, specifics unknown)
 +
*[[David Reinstein]] (2012-13; [[IHSA plagiarism scandal|fired for reporting plagiarism in 2013]])
 +
*[[Kristin Strey]] (2011)
 +
*[[Donald Taylor]] (several years, specifics unknown)
 +
*[[Kelly Tourdot]] (several years, specifics unknown)
 +
*[[Andrew Ullsperger]] (several years, specifics unknown)
 +
*[[Matt Weiner]] (2006–07)
 +
*[[Noah Prince]] (subject editor, 2016, 2018-19, 2021-22)
  
 
==Top Teams from the IHSA State Championship Tournament==
 
==Top Teams from the IHSA State Championship Tournament==
−
Clicking on the year brings you to the article showing the full results for each year's State Championship Tournament. (NOTE: The information below only goes up to 2009.)
+
Clicking on the year brings you to the article showing the full results for each year's State Championship Tournament.
  
 
==State Championship Results==
 
==State Championship Results==
Line 40: Line 107:
 
| [[1987 IHSA State Championship Tournament|1986-87]]
 
| [[1987 IHSA State Championship Tournament|1986-87]]
 
| [[Quincy|Quincy Senior]]
 
| [[Quincy|Quincy Senior]]
−
| Salem
+
| [[Salem]]
 
|  
 
|  
 
|  
 
|  
Line 52: Line 119:
 
| [[1989 IHSA State Championship Tournament|1988-89]]
 
| [[1989 IHSA State Championship Tournament|1988-89]]
 
| [[IMSA]]
 
| [[IMSA]]
−
| Breese Central
+
| [[Breese Central]]
 
|  
 
|  
 
|  
 
|  
Line 58: Line 125:
 
| [[1990 IHSA State Championship Tournament|1989-90]]
 
| [[1990 IHSA State Championship Tournament|1989-90]]
 
| IMSA
 
| IMSA
−
| Joliet Catholic Academy
+
| [[Joliet Catholic|Joliet Catholic Academy]]
 
|  
 
|  
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-  
 
|-  
 
| [[1991 IHSA State Championship Tournament|1990-91]]
 
| [[1991 IHSA State Championship Tournament|1990-91]]
−
| Centralia
+
| [[Centralia]]
−
| Cary-Grove
+
| [[Cary-Grove]]
 
|  
 
|  
 
|  
 
|  
Line 71: Line 138:
 
| [[Hinsdale Central]]
 
| [[Hinsdale Central]]
 
| [[Bradley-Bourbonnais]]
 
| [[Bradley-Bourbonnais]]
−
| Rockridge
+
| [[Rockridge]]
 
| Harrisburg
 
| Harrisburg
 
|-
 
|-
Line 84: Line 151:
 
| Bradley-Bourbonnais
 
| Bradley-Bourbonnais
 
| Latin School
 
| Latin School
−
| Brimfield
+
| [[Brimfield]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[1995 IHSA State Championship Tournament|1994-95]]
 
| [[1995 IHSA State Championship Tournament|1994-95]]
−
| Richwoods
+
| [[Richwoods]]
 
| [[New Trier]]
 
| [[New Trier]]
 
| Winnebago
 
| Winnebago
Line 95: Line 162:
 
| IMSA
 
| IMSA
 
| [[MacArthur]]
 
| [[MacArthur]]
−
| Niantic-Harristown
+
| [[Niantic-Harristown]]
−
| Beardstown
+
| [[Beardstown]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[1997 IHSA State Championship Tournament|1996-97]]
 
| [[1997 IHSA State Championship Tournament|1996-97]]
Line 120: Line 187:
 
| [[Naperville Central]]
 
| [[Naperville Central]]
 
| Byron
 
| Byron
−
| University (Normal)
+
| [[University (Normal)]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[2001 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2000-01]]
 
| [[2001 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2000-01]]
Line 126: Line 193:
 
| [[Wheaton North]]
 
| [[Wheaton North]]
 
| Warrensburg-Latham
 
| Warrensburg-Latham
−
| Carlinville
+
| [[Carlinville]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[2002 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2001-02]]
 
| [[2002 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2001-02]]
Line 132: Line 199:
 
| Hinsdale Central
 
| Hinsdale Central
 
| Latin School
 
| Latin School
−
| Carterville
+
| [[Carterville]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[2003 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2002-03]]
 
| [[2003 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2002-03]]
 
| Wheaton North
 
| Wheaton North
 
| [[Auburn High School (IL)|Auburn (Rockford)]]
 
| [[Auburn High School (IL)|Auburn (Rockford)]]
−
| Stillman Valley
+
| [[Stillman Valley]]
 
| Carlinville
 
| Carlinville
 
|-
 
|-
Line 150: Line 217:
 
| Wheaton North
 
| Wheaton North
 
| Latin School
 
| Latin School
−
| Eureka
+
| [[Eureka]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[2006 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2005-06]]
 
| [[2006 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2005-06]]
Line 156: Line 223:
 
| Carbondale
 
| Carbondale
 
| Latin School
 
| Latin School
−
| Illinois Valley Central
+
| [[Illinois Valley Central]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[2007 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2006-07]]
 
| [[2007 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2006-07]]
 
| [[New Trier]]
 
| [[New Trier]]
 
| Wheaton North
 
| Wheaton North
−
| Lutheran Schools Association (Decatur)
+
| [[Decatur Lutheran]]
−
| Columbia
+
| [[Columbia (Illinois high school)|Columbia]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[2008 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2007-08]]
 
| [[2008 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2007-08]]
 
| Auburn
 
| Auburn
 
| Stevenson
 
| Stevenson
−
| PORTA
+
| [[PORTA]]
 
| Byron
 
| Byron
 
|-
 
|-
Line 174: Line 241:
 
| Auburn
 
| Auburn
 
| Latin
 
| Latin
 +
| [[Litchfield]]
 +
|-
 +
|| [[2010 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2009-10]]
 +
| Stevenson
 +
| Auburn
 +
| [[Lisle]]
 +
| [[New Berlin]]
 +
|-
 +
|| [[2011 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2010-11]]
 +
| IMSA
 +
| Auburn
 +
| Lisle
 +
| [[Macomb]]
 +
|-
 +
|| [[2012 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2011-12]]
 +
| IMSA
 +
| Macomb
 +
| [[Peoria Christian]]
 +
| [[Chicago Christian]]
 +
|-
 +
|| [[2013 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2012-13]]
 +
| IMSA
 +
| Loyola
 +
| Peoria Christian
 +
| Carterville
 +
|-
 +
|| [[2014 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2013-14]]
 +
| IMSA
 +
| Stevenson
 
| Litchfield
 
| Litchfield
−
|-}
+
| Lisle
 +
|-
 +
|| [[2015 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2014-15]]
 +
| Auburn
 +
| Hinsdale Central
 +
| [[University of Illinois Lab]]
 +
| Peoria Christian
 +
|-
 +
|| [[2016 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2015-16]]
 +
| Hinsdale Central
 +
| Auburn
 +
| Latin
 +
| St. Teresa
 +
|-
 +
|| [[2017 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2016-17]]
 +
|IMSA
 +
|University of Illinois Lab
 +
|[[Timothy Christian]]
 +
|[[Williamsville]]
 +
|-
 +
|| [[2018 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2017-18]]
 +
|Stevenson
 +
|Auburn
 +
|Williamsville
 +
|Byron
 +
|-
 +
|| [[2019 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2018-19]]
 +
|University of Illinois Lab
 +
|Auburn
 +
|[[Chicago Christian]]
 +
|Williamsville
 +
|-
 +
|| [[2022 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2021-22]]
 +
|IMSA
 +
|Springfield
 +
|University of Illinois Lab
 +
|[[Westmont]]
 +
|-
 +
|| [[2023 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2022-23]]
 +
|Rockford Auburn
 +
|Barrington
 +
|University of Illinois Lab
 +
|[[Southwestern]]
 +
|-
 +
|| [[2024 IHSA State Championship Tournament|2023-24]]
 +
|[[Buffalo Grove]]
 +
|[[Waubonsie Valley]]
 +
|[[Metro-East Lutheran]]
 +
|Winnebago
 +
|-
 +
{|
 +
 
 +
The 2019-20 tournament was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Regionals were played, but not Sectionals or State.
 +
The 2020-21 tournament featured in-person regional and sectional sites, but did not hold the state championship. Many teams declined to attend due to safety concerns about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
 +
 
  
 
===Three or More Top 4 Finishes===
 
===Three or More Top 4 Finishes===
−
*15 - The Latin School of Chicago
+
*22 - Illinois Math & Science Academy
−
*10 - Illinois Math & Science Academy
+
*20 - Auburn
 +
*16 - The Latin School of Chicago
 +
*11 - Stevenson
 
*9 - Wheaton North
 
*9 - Wheaton North
−
*8 - Auburn
+
*8 - Carbondale
 +
*7 - Winnebago
 +
*6 - Uni Lab
 
*6 - Quincy Senior
 
*6 - Quincy Senior
 
*5 - New Trier
 
*5 - New Trier
−
*5 - Carbondale
+
*5 - Hinsdale Central
 +
*5 - Byron
 +
*5 - Piasa Southwestern
 
*4 - MacArthur
 
*4 - MacArthur
 
*4 - Carlinville
 
*4 - Carlinville
−
*4 - Winnebago
+
*4 - Peoria Christian
 
*3 - Joliet Catholic Academy
 
*3 - Joliet Catholic Academy
 
*3 - Streator Township
 
*3 - Streator Township
−
*3 - Hinsdale Central
 
 
*3 - St. Teresa
 
*3 - St. Teresa
 +
*3 - Williamsville
  
 
===Three or More Consecutive Top 4 Finishes===
 
===Three or More Consecutive Top 4 Finishes===
 +
*18 - Auburn (2002-19)
 
*8 - Wheaton North (2001-08)
 
*8 - Wheaton North (2001-08)
 
*8 - The Latin School of Chicago (2002-09)
 
*8 - The Latin School of Chicago (2002-09)
−
*8 - Auburn (2002-09)
+
*5 - Illinois Math & Science Academy (2010-14)
 
*4 - The Latin School of Chicago (1992-95)
 
*4 - The Latin School of Chicago (1992-95)
 
*4 - Illinois Math & Science Academy (1996-2000)
 
*4 - Illinois Math & Science Academy (1996-2000)
 +
*4 - Illinois Math & Science Academy (2016-19)
 
*3 - Joliet Catholic Academy (1988-90)
 
*3 - Joliet Catholic Academy (1988-90)
 
*3 - Illinois Math & Science Academy (1992-94)
 
*3 - Illinois Math & Science Academy (1992-94)
 
*3 - Winnebago (1993-95)
 
*3 - Winnebago (1993-95)
 
*3 - Streator Township (1998-2000)
 
*3 - Streator Township (1998-2000)
 +
*3 - Piasa Southwestern (2017-19)
 +
*3 - Williamsville (2017-19)
  
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==See Also==
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*[[Masonic tournament]] - State Tournament hosted by the Illinois Masons
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*[[NAQT Illinois State Championship]]
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==External Links==
 
[http://www.ihsa.org/activity/scb/index.htm IHSA Scholastic Bowl website]
 
[http://www.ihsa.org/activity/scb/index.htm IHSA Scholastic Bowl website]
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{{IHSA state championship tournament}}
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{{Navbox HS Quizbowl in Illinois}}
  
 
[[Category: High school formats]]
 
[[Category: High school formats]]
 
[[Category: High school quizbowl in Illinois]]
 
[[Category: High school quizbowl in Illinois]]
 
[[Category: State championships]]
 
[[Category: State championships]]

Latest revision as of 16:07, 16 March 2024

The Illinois High School Association governs many sports and activities in Illinois, including Illinois Scholastic Bowl.

History

The IHSA was founded in 1900, and is the second oldest (Wisconsin) state high school athletic/activities governing organization.

The IHSA started sponsoring a Scholastic Bowl State Tournament in 1986-7, with Quincy beating Salem in the first ever Championship Match. In 1991-92, IHSA split into two classes, with Rockridge winning the first Class A (small school) Championship.

Governance

The IHSA claims that it is a private organization, with almost 800 member schools, and a small number of affiliate and approved schools who do not hold full membership.

The highest authority of the IHSA is the Board of Directors. The Board consists of ten principals, one each from the seven geographical districts determined long ago by the IHSA, and three "at-large" positions which are voted statewide and reserved for a woman, an underrepresented ethnic minority, and a private school. The Board also appoints a principal to a non-voting Treasurer position.

The operation of the IHSA is charged to an Executive Director and a team of (currently nine) Assistant Executive Directors (AED). Each assistant executive director is given direct oversight of a number of sports and activities (in addition to other responsibilities). In 2017, Scholastic Bowl was given a new AED, Kraig Garber.

Each sport and activity has its own Advisory Committee (AdCo). The committee is chaired by the sport/activity's respective AED, and includes a representative from each of the IHSA's seven districts. While most of the representatives are head coaches, one is always an athletic or activities director. In sports, one seat is usually reserved for an official. The IHSA Scholastic Bowl AdCo does not have a seat reserved for an official, however, some time after 2010, the chief question editor, and the supervisor of officials for the State Tournament were elevated to voting positions on the AdCo, after being non-voting invitees for many years. The Scholastic Bowl AdCo meets once each year in closed session, usually in late April or early May.

The AdCo meets and debates changes to rules (which govern the game) and terms and conditions (which govern state tournament structure). The committee can vote on changes, which the AED then brings to the Board of Directors. In general, the Board of Directors will rubber stamp the recommendations, but since this is a closed session, it is difficult to determine what happens in these approval meetings. In both 2012 and 2013, the Board of Directors rejected the elimination of language arts questions despite that having been approved by the committee in both years.

While most sports have case manuals to assist coaches and officials to interpret rules published by that sport's respective national federation, the lack of an organization for quiz bowl means non existed for Scholastic Bowl. Around 2002, a Case Manual was assembled by a handful of officials, and is published by the IHSA. The AdCo also oversees changes to that book.

Match Format

From its inception, and into the 21st century, IHSA State matches (and thus many local tournament and conference matches) used the "IHSA Format". This can be summed up as:

10 point tossups (no negs or powers)
Bonuses could bounceback to the other team.
Teams got ten seconds to answer after a tossup was done being read (30 seconds for computational questions).
Bonuses were worth a maximum of 20 points. Bonuses could be four parts (5 points each), five parts (4 points each), or three parts (6 points for a team getting any one part right, 13 for getting any two parts right, and 20 for all three
Bonus parts were read all at once, with teams getting up to 30 seconds to confer on all of the parts.

Additionally, there were other strange behavior rules that included the requirement that players put pencils down when time was called on a bonus (a rule that persists in Illinois Middle School competition). The only remaining odd behavior rule is the requirement that teams appearing in IHSA competitions must wear matching shirts that also must adhere to certain requirements of decorum. If a team fields a player lacking a proper matching top, their opponent is given 30 points to start the match.

Over time, due to concerted efforts by players, coaches, and former players, these rules were changed to become somewhat more aligned with national rules. In 2012-13, IHSA switched to a bonus format similar to NSC in which bonus parts are read one part at a time, and each bonus has three parts worth ten points each, with bouncebacks.

Distribution

For most of its history, IHSA questions have been distributed according to six categories: Math, Science, Language Arts, Social Studies, Fine Arts, and Miscellaneous. For most of the 1990s and into the early 2000s, Math, Science, Language Arts, and Social Studies were considered "major categories", with Fine Arts and Miscellaneous being considered "minor categories". When Illinois used a 30/30 match length, major categories each had 6/6 questions, with minor categories being 3/3 questions. When Illinois used 24/24 matches, major categories were each represented by 5/5, and minor categories were represented by 2/2. Each of these six categories had sub-categories which were used as guides for writers to draw questions from, though the head editor had full control of how many questions would come from each sub-category, if at all.

The IHSA distribution has traditionally had more math and computation than most other distributions in the US. For much of that time, computation was not limited to math, and at one time there was no limit at all on the number of possible computation questions. Since 2005, the amount of math and computation has been gradually curtailed, and a push to increase the amount of literature and Social Studies has brought the distribution more in line with good practice (though the math requirement remains high compared to most states).

The Language Arts category traditionally had a much larger distribution of grammar, spelling, and speech. These sub-categories was also eventually whittled away, leaving a stronger "Literature" category in use today.

The Miscellaneous questions are known for very quirky sub-categories, including "Agriculture", "Drivers Ed", "Health", "Home Economics", "Pop Culture", and "Industrial Arts". The set editor has complete control over which sub-categories are written about. In the past, there was a concerted effort to represent all areas, which led to poor questions in order to satisfy a sub-distribution. The "Interdisciplinary" subcategory under Miscellaneous allows for more academic content to be represented.

The current distribution of 24/24 (and sub-distributions):

4/4 Social Studies (1/1 Geography, 1/1 Religion, 1/1 Mythology, and 1/1 Social Sciences)
4/4 History
4/4 Literature (2/2 US Lit, 2/2 from Language Arts, Brit Lit, World Lit)
4/4 Science (3/3 Bio, Chem, Physics, 1/1 other science)
4/4 Math (No computational tossups)
3/3 Fine Arts (at least 1/1 Visual Arts and 1/1 Music)
1/1 Miscellaneous (primarily Interdisciplinary and Pop Culture)

While the head editor does not have control over the mandated distribution as shown, they have greater discretion over the sub-distribution. The editor can decide to include no Language Arts and have that part of the sub-distribution cover only British and/or World Lit, for example.

State Series Format

The IHSA State Series uses a Regional-Sectional-State format, and in two classes (AA for large schools, A for smaller schools).

Classification

Since 2018, a school's classification is determined by sorting all participating teams evenly between each division based on their enrollment. In recent years that split has hovered around 500 students and fluctuates every year. Schools that are smaller than this cutoff may compete in Class AA for various reasons. Their enrollment is inflated by a "private school" multiplier, the team has seen perennial top placement in the tournament or simply has requested to play up ([1]).

Schools are then assigned, geographically to one of eight sectionals in their class (usually in January). Each sectional consists of approximately 24-40 schools. This means that despite roughly 70% of Illinois' population being from Chicago and the collar counties while a vast majority of schools are small schools located in central, western, or southern Illinois, only 5 of the 16 sectionals (1 Class A and 4 Class AA) represent the greater Chicago area. This follows from the IHSA's philosophy on all of their state series (p. 101) which states The State Series is designed to determine a State Champion. The State Series is not intended to necessarily advance the best teams in the state to the State Final. This philosophy has created a degree of concern between players, coaches, officials, and the IHSA as they are specifically against the advancement of top teams, and that teams advancing to the IHSA state tournament become frustrated when they have advanced, but that advancement does not translate into further recognition or respect in polls or All-State awards. It has also led to issues where teams which are not considered near the "top 8" in their class are blown out in state-level competition, and then complain that the questions or opponents were too tough. The IHSA has generally refused to address this in the past, though writers and editors, and the IHSSBCA have tinkered with the question writing process at various times to allow for better accessibility of answer lines to teams that are competing at the state level, but may not truly be state level teams.

Seeding & Hosts

Following Sectional assignments coaches will then submit season records & vote to determine the top 8 teams in mid-February. Since 2017, this process has been done online over two days rather than in-person. Afterward, the IHSA will place each team into one of four Regional tournaments composed of single-elimination brackets, with an effort made to separate the top 8 seeds (1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5), and arrange them so that seeds only meet in the Regional finals. Lastly, the remaining assignments in the brackets are filled out taking into consideration geography & submitted team records.

Sectional hosts are typically pre-determined by the IHSA before the seeding process. However Regional hosts are determined during the seeding process with schools denoting their interest in hosting, with preference given to the top-4 seeds.

The State Finals are held by a single host. Since 2022, the tournament has been held at Heartland Community College in Normal, Illinois. Previously, the tournament was hosted by the Peoria Civic Center with a few other down-state schools also hosting in the earliest years.

Tournament Structure

Regional tournaments are held on the first Monday of March, with the winners of the four Regionals advancing to Sectionals that Saturday.

A Sectional is composed of a four-team round-robin, with winners advancing to the State Finals. If there is a tie between two teams, it is broken based on head-to-head results, with a three-way tie broken based on the total scores of the teams scored against the other tied teams. While this is far from ideal, until 2003, the Sectionals were three rounds of single-elimination (both the regional champions and runners-up advanced to sectionals). Because all IHSA team sports use single-elimination, the IHSA has been very uneasy about Scholastic Bowl playing in a round-robin format, and at least one administrator claimed that he needed to constantly explain to sports coaches why Scholastic Bowl was allowed a rare dispensation to allow for a round-robin Sectional Tournament, this despite team chess having abandoned single elimination back in the 1970s.

The State Championship Tournament is held on the following Friday or Saturday. Since 2001, the winners of the 8 sectionals in each class are randomly assigned to one of two pools of four teams. Each team plays the three other teams in their pool, with the top teams in each pool advancing to the state championship, and the runner-ups in each of the pools playing a third-place match. Ties in each pool are broken according to the same rules in the Sectional. Prior to 2001, the State Finals were a single-elimination tournament.

Writing & Editing

Since 2001 the IHSA has hired a secret cabal to write its questions. In 2001 and 2002 the editor was Tom Egan, who proposed that system. From 2003-2017 the editor was Sister John Baricevic. In 2017, Brad Fischer became the new head editor, and is the first head editor with practical playing experience.

In 2013 the set contained several plagiarized questions, which was the subject of the IHSA plagiarism scandal. For about a decade prior to 2001, the questions were provided by Answers Plus.

Writers who have admitted their involvement with the IHSA writing process include the following:

Top Teams from the IHSA State Championship Tournament

Clicking on the year brings you to the article showing the full results for each year's State Championship Tournament.

State Championship Results

Years AA Champion AA Second Place A Champion A Second Place
1986-87 Quincy Senior Salem
1987-88 Quincy Senior Wheaton Central
1988-89 IMSA Breese Central
1989-90 IMSA Joliet Catholic Academy
1990-91 Centralia Cary-Grove
1991-92 Hinsdale Central Bradley-Bourbonnais Rockridge Harrisburg
1992-93 Quincy Senior IMSA Winnebago Latin School
1993-94 IMSA Bradley-Bourbonnais Latin School Brimfield
1994-95 Richwoods New Trier Winnebago Latin School
1995-96 IMSA MacArthur Niantic-Harristown Beardstown
1996-97 IMSA Carbondale St. Teresa Byron
1997-98 IMSA Hinsdale Central Latin School St. Teresa
1998-99 IMSA MacArthur University (Normal) PORTA
1999-2000 Stevenson Naperville Central Byron University (Normal)
2000-01 IMSA Wheaton North Warrensburg-Latham Carlinville
2001-02 Wheaton North Hinsdale Central Latin School Carterville
2002-03 Wheaton North Auburn (Rockford) Stillman Valley Carlinville
2003-04 Wheaton North Stevenson Latin School Carterville
2004-05 Stevenson Wheaton North Latin School Eureka
2005-06 Fremd Carbondale Latin School Illinois Valley Central
2006-07 New Trier Wheaton North Decatur Lutheran Columbia
2007-08 Auburn Stevenson PORTA Byron
2008-09 Carbondale Auburn Latin Litchfield
2009-10 Stevenson Auburn Lisle New Berlin
2010-11 IMSA Auburn Lisle Macomb
2011-12 IMSA Macomb Peoria Christian Chicago Christian
2012-13 IMSA Loyola Peoria Christian Carterville
2013-14 IMSA Stevenson Litchfield Lisle
2014-15 Auburn Hinsdale Central University of Illinois Lab Peoria Christian
2015-16 Hinsdale Central Auburn Latin St. Teresa
2016-17 IMSA University of Illinois Lab Timothy Christian Williamsville
2017-18 Stevenson Auburn Williamsville Byron
2018-19 University of Illinois Lab Auburn Chicago Christian Williamsville
2021-22 IMSA Springfield University of Illinois Lab Westmont
2022-23 Rockford Auburn Barrington University of Illinois Lab Southwestern
2023-24 Buffalo Grove Waubonsie Valley Metro-East Lutheran Winnebago
The 2019-20 tournament was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Regionals were played, but not Sectionals or State. The 2020-21 tournament featured in-person regional and sectional sites, but did not hold the state championship. Many teams declined to attend due to safety concerns about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Three or More Top 4 Finishes

  • 22 - Illinois Math & Science Academy
  • 20 - Auburn
  • 16 - The Latin School of Chicago
  • 11 - Stevenson
  • 9 - Wheaton North
  • 8 - Carbondale
  • 7 - Winnebago
  • 6 - Uni Lab
  • 6 - Quincy Senior
  • 5 - New Trier
  • 5 - Hinsdale Central
  • 5 - Byron
  • 5 - Piasa Southwestern
  • 4 - MacArthur
  • 4 - Carlinville
  • 4 - Peoria Christian
  • 3 - Joliet Catholic Academy
  • 3 - Streator Township
  • 3 - St. Teresa
  • 3 - Williamsville

Three or More Consecutive Top 4 Finishes

  • 18 - Auburn (2002-19)
  • 8 - Wheaton North (2001-08)
  • 8 - The Latin School of Chicago (2002-09)
  • 5 - Illinois Math & Science Academy (2010-14)
  • 4 - The Latin School of Chicago (1992-95)
  • 4 - Illinois Math & Science Academy (1996-2000)
  • 4 - Illinois Math & Science Academy (2016-19)
  • 3 - Joliet Catholic Academy (1988-90)
  • 3 - Illinois Math & Science Academy (1992-94)
  • 3 - Winnebago (1993-95)
  • 3 - Streator Township (1998-2000)
  • 3 - Piasa Southwestern (2017-19)
  • 3 - Williamsville (2017-19)

See Also

External Links

IHSA Scholastic Bowl website

IHSA State Championship

Tournaments
1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2012 · 2013 · 2014 · 2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 (cancelled) · 2021 (cancelled) · 2022 · 2023 · 2024
Records
Associated Individuals
Sister John Baricevic (former question editor; current or former official) · Tom Egan (former question editor; former official)  · Brad Fischer (question editor)  · Rob Grierson (head of officials)  · Ron McGraw (former IHSA admin)  · Matt Laird (former official)  · Mike Laudermith (official)  · David Reinstein (former official)  · Mike Sorice (official)

High School Quizbowl in Illinois

Organizations
State Tournaments
Awards & Honors
Major Tournaments
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