Question: How did the Indiana High School Athletic Association come about?
Answer: Formation of Indiana Sport Governing Association
In the late 1890s, athletic events were becoming the pride of communities throughout the state of Indiana. Leagues were being formed: IIAA (Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Association) consisted of nine schools – Indianapolis High School, Indianapolis Manual Training High School, Covington, Muncie, Veedersburg, Lafayette, Crawfordsville, Terre Haute and Hartford City; Southern Indiana Athletic Conference (SIAC) consisted of seven schools - Bloomington, Salem, Paoli, Orleans, Washington, Bedford and Mitchell; Northwestern Conference, Eastern Indiana High School League – Anderson, Kokomo, Marion, Richmond and others. Many meets were being held at the University of Chicago, Indiana University, Purdue University and other sites as a recruiting tool. During this time, community pride was more important than sportsmanship, therefore many schools were using athletes not enrolled in their high school, plus the use of overage athletes and there was no way to control disputes. Thus, a meeting was scheduled in Richmond to discuss the formation of an Inter-High-Scholastic Athletic Association. The Richmond meeting was held on March 26, 1897, and attended by delegates from Portland, South Bend, Madison and Indianapolis. By this time, most schools were participating in baseball, football and track and field. During the meeting, it was felt that they should get more schools represented and another meeting was suggested. The second meeting was held on March 11, 1899, at the English Hotel with the following schools represented: Indianapolis (later Shortridge), Indianapolis Manual Training, Richmond, Winchester, Muncie and Lebanon. The Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Association (IIAA) was formed. The new association quickly contacted a member of the “Newby Oval,” a velodrome that proved positive for a site for the first IIAA state track and field finals, to be held May 27, 1899.
Seven high schools were represented and Indianapolis High School was heavily favored. An injury of their star athlete Alfred Ogle in the opening event damaged their chances and they had to settle for second, nine points behind Indianapolis Manual Training High School (60 – 51), followed by Hartford City 10, Crawfordsville 7, Muncie 5, Covington 2 and Richmond failed to score.
In April of 1903 another meeting was held in Richmond, known as the Richmond agreement, to consolidate all schools, but it failed because there was no central organization with executive powers. It pointed the way for another meeting in the office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction on December 5, 1903, to consider the formation of a state high school athletic association.
This meet was well attended by around 50 schools. Using the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association constitution, an Indiana constitution was adopted. Then on December 29, 1903, at the State Teachers Association meeting the constitution was brought up and with many amendments added and finally adopted. The rules governing the association set up minimum and uniform standards of eligibility for membership. The association would become the Indiana High School Athletic Association.