Illinois High School Association Postpones State Football Championship Games Amidst Snowstorm
In a surprising turn of events, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) has postponed its state championship football games scheduled for Saturday at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Illinois. The unexpected decision was made due to an anticipated snowstorm that is expected to hit the region.
According to IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson, this postponement marks a rare occurrence in the association's 51-year history. "We appreciate the patience and understanding of these schools and communities as we work to determine the best and safest solution to rescheduling these contests and crowning state champions," he said in a statement.
Initially, four games were scheduled: Class 8A, 7A, 6A, and 5A championships. However, due to the inclement weather, all of them have been postponed. The smaller classes' games, from 1A to 4A, were played as scheduled on Friday.
The IHSA has also announced that the games will not be played on Sunday. While a decision is yet to be made for Class 7A and 8A, it was confirmed that the Class 5A/6A games will take place on Tuesday at ISU. The association hopes to make an announcement regarding Class 7A and 8A by Saturday.
With the state championship games moved from NIU and the University of Illinois, which previously shared hosting duties every year, many teams are left in limbo. Mount Carmel Athletic Director Phil Segroves expressed uncertainty about the future of their game, stating that the IHSA informed him they were considering "putting the games on pause."
The IHSA had notified all eight participating teams before they departed for Bloomington-Normal, leaving them with little time to prepare for the unexpected shift in schedule.
In a surprising turn of events, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) has postponed its state championship football games scheduled for Saturday at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Illinois. The unexpected decision was made due to an anticipated snowstorm that is expected to hit the region.
According to IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson, this postponement marks a rare occurrence in the association's 51-year history. "We appreciate the patience and understanding of these schools and communities as we work to determine the best and safest solution to rescheduling these contests and crowning state champions," he said in a statement.
Initially, four games were scheduled: Class 8A, 7A, 6A, and 5A championships. However, due to the inclement weather, all of them have been postponed. The smaller classes' games, from 1A to 4A, were played as scheduled on Friday.
The IHSA has also announced that the games will not be played on Sunday. While a decision is yet to be made for Class 7A and 8A, it was confirmed that the Class 5A/6A games will take place on Tuesday at ISU. The association hopes to make an announcement regarding Class 7A and 8A by Saturday.
With the state championship games moved from NIU and the University of Illinois, which previously shared hosting duties every year, many teams are left in limbo. Mount Carmel Athletic Director Phil Segroves expressed uncertainty about the future of their game, stating that the IHSA informed him they were considering "putting the games on pause."
The IHSA had notified all eight participating teams before they departed for Bloomington-Normal, leaving them with little time to prepare for the unexpected shift in schedule.
! I mean, can you even believe that the state football championship games got postponed due to a snowstorm?! 
Like, I get it, safety first and all that jazz, but now teams are left wondering if their season is even gonna end on a high note 
. And what's up with the uncertainty about Class 7A and 8A? It feels like they're stuck in limbo 
. I hope they make an announcement soon so these teams can start planning for Tuesday's games. Tuesday, though! 
The smaller classes got to play on Friday, but the bigger ones are still waiting... this is getting crazy 
! I mean, who needs a snow day when you can have a snow-filled sports schedule 
... and hopefully not getting frostbite 
i mean i get it snow is crazy but cant they have a backup plan like a indoor stadium or something? 
idk what the IHSA is thinkin but teams are left with nothin to do now. my little one was even makin plans with friends on saturday 
can we just get that resched already?? 
this is so not what they needed right now... hope it gets rescheduled ASAP 
can't believe this is happening 51 years of history and they're still deciding 
i was thinking of getting tickets for my friend's team and now i dont know what to do 
i feel bad for the players who were gonna have their big moment on the field 
and the schools that are just trying to figure out how to reschedule everything 
I was soooo hyped 4 Saturday's state football championship but now its gonna be postponed cuz of snowstorm 
I feel bad 4 all the teams who had their game on friday 
. Class 7A and 8A are still up in the air tho, hope they get rescheduled ASAP! 
. Teams that already traveled to Bloomington-Normal are left all confused 
for all those teams that had plans 
, it's just too much drama 
... hope the IHSA can figure out something soon 
. And why did they only postpone the bigger games? What about the smaller classes' games that were played as scheduled on Friday? It's like they wanted to keep those under the radar 
.
. And what about Mount Carmel Athletic Director Phil Segroves' comment? "putting the games on pause"? That's a pretty interesting way of saying it, don't you think? 
But like, totally understand why they had to postpone it - safety first, you know? 
And I feel bad for teams like Mount Carmel that are trying to figure out what's going on - they must be totally confused 
That's just a fancy way of saying cancelled, imo. Anyway, I guess they'll have to wait until Saturday for an update... fingers crossed 
... this is like a total game-changer for these high school football players! I feel bad for 'em, gotta be super disappointed after all that prep work went into those games 
they must be so frustrated 
i don't want anyone to get hurt or have a cancelled season 
will they be rescheduled for another day or just cancelled?