The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public and private high schools in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Member schools are classified into four classes based on enrollment, ranging from the smallest, 1A, to the largest, 4A. Some sports provide specific classification, such as football (six classes) and soccer (three).
The IHSAA's boys and girls basketball tournaments, sometimes dubbed Hoosier Hysteria, are some of the oldest and best-attended state basketball tournaments in the United States.
Structure
The IHSAA is divided into three board of director districts: northern, central, and southern. These districts elect three members each to the board of directors.
The northern district is composed of Adams, Allen, Cass, DeKalb, Elkhart, Fulton, Huntington, Jasper, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Lake, LaPorte, Marshall, Miami, Newton, Noble, Porter, Pulaski, St. Joseph, Starke, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley counties.
The central district is composed of Benton, Blackford, Boone, Clinton, Carroll, Delaware, Fountain, Grant, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Jay, Madison, Marion, Montgomery, Parke, Putnam, Randolph, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Vermillion, Warren, and White counties.
The southern district is composed of Bartholomew, Brown, Clark, Clay, Crawford, Daviess, Dearborn, Decatur, Dubois, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Gibson, Greene, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Morgan, Ohio, Orange, Owen, Perry, Pike, Posey, Ripley, Rush, Scott, Shelby, Spencer, Sullivan, Switzerland, Union, Vanderburgh, Vigo, Warrick, Washington and Wayne counties.
Select board of directors seats are reserved for female, minority, and urban representatives from special Northern and Southern Districts, as well as one private school representative.
Sanctioned sports
Emerging sports
Volleyball (boys) Wrestling (girls)
Athletic Conferences
In the regular season, most of the member-schools' sports activities are governed by Indiana's high school athletic conferences. Some conferences only offer select sports, while others include all. Some schools maintain independence in certain sports, electing not to compete in a conference.
Some smaller sports are governed by other organizations in Indiana. For example, boys' ice hockey, which has fewer participating teams than other sports statewide, is under the auspices of the Indiana State High School Hockey Association (ISHSHA).
Allen County
Blue Chip
Central Indiana
Circle City
Conference Indiana
Duneland Athletic
Eastern Indiana Athletic
Great Lakes Athletic
Greater Indianapolis
Greater South Shore
Hoosier
Hoosier Crossroads
Hoosier Heartland
Hoosier Heritage
Hoosier Hills
Hoosier North
Hoosier Plains
Indiana Crossroads
Metropolitan
Mid-Eastern
Mid-Hoosier
Mid-Southern
Mid-State
Midwest
North Central
Northeast 8
Northeast Corner
Northern Indiana
Northern Lakes
Northwest Crossroads
Ohio River Valley
Patoka Lake
Pioneer
Porter County
Sagamore
Southern
Southern Indiana
Southern Roads
Southwest Indiana
Summit
Three Rivers
Tri-Eastern
Tri-River
Wabash River
Western Indiana
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.