The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) announced today that 214 schools will compete in the inaugural IHSA Bass Fishing State Series during the spring of 2009.
"The registration of 214 schools for bass fishing greatly exceeded our expectations for the first season of this activity," said IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman. "The groundswell of support from our membership reinforces the decision that our Board of Directors made in choosing to sponsor bass fishing and we believe that these numbers will only continue to grow."
The IHSA became the first state high school association in the country to sponsor a state championship in bass fishing when the IHSA Board of Directors voted to approve the Terms and Conditions for the Bass Fishing State Series on June 9, 2008.
All of the IHSA’s 775 member schools were eligible to field a bass fishing team, which required them to register by the November 1 deadline. All registered teams will participate in sectional tournaments, which are scheduled for April 24. The IHSA expects action to unfold at between 10 and 12 sectional sites, with four-to-five teams per sectional advancing to the state finals on Carlyle Lake on May 8-9. Teams are allowed two boats per school, with two participants fishing per boat at a time during state series competition. In the state series, winners will be determined based on the combined weights of up to five fish per boat.
"Since day one, we have said that the goal of this program is to reach kids who normally would not participate in other IHSA sports and activities," said IHSA Bass Fishing Administrator Dave Gannaway. "Things started a little slow, but in my mind I had always been shooting for 200 teams and was thrilled to see us reach and exceed that number."
Ironically, the registration of Fisher High School in Fisher, pushed the overall number to the 200-school plateau. District 12, which encompasses Peoria and the surrounding area, was the leader with 18 schools participating, followed by 17 schools in District 6 (Lake, McHenry, Boone Counties). Joliet (Twp.) was the largest school entering a bass fishing team and DeLand-Weldon the smallest with respective enrollments of 5,555 and 60.
The number of teams could still continue to grow, as other schools have already expressed interest in paying the late fee to add a bass fishing team after the deadline.
More breakdowns by districts and classes are available below:
IHSA BASS FISHING BREAKDOWNS
Schools By Board Division
Div. 1: 6
Div. 2: 45
Div. 3: 39
Div. 4: 38
Div. 5: 32
Div. 6: 27
Div. 7: 27
Top Legislative Districts
Dist. 12: 18 (Peoria area)
Dist. 6: 17 (Lake, McHenry, Boone Counties)
Dist. 5: 16 (Kane, DeKalb Counties)
Dist. 7: 16 (DuPage Counties)
Dist. 15: 15 (Bloomington-Decatur area)
Schools by Class (Note that Bass Fishing is a single class activity)
1A: 53
2A: 49
3A: 44
4A: 68
Largest Enrollment
5,555 Joliet (Twp.)
4,545 Lincolnshire (Stevenson)
4,328 Waukegan (Twp.)
Smallest Enrollment
60 DeLand-Weldon
71 Coulterville
109 Edinburg