(6-23-23) This spring, the IHSAA conducted its first official membership survey since 2013 to gather feedback from member schools and better determine school administrator input on policies, schedules, and activities.

The brief online survey was sent to superintendents, principals, and athletics/activities directors from each of the IHSAA’s 367 member high schools. Each of those administrators was encouraged to submit their responses, with shared duties resulting in around 1,000 possible respondents statewide. The 20-question survey received 528 submissions. Complete results are available for review below.

Questions were presented in yes-or-no or multiple choice format and were centered on recent IHSAA and Unified Activity Federation changes, and the most commonly discussed topics among the Board of Control, Representative Council, advisory committees, and through district and sport association meetings. Context was offered on numerous questions through “background” which provided brief details and links on policy or format.

Selected highlights…

Family Week: 94% of respondents supported Family Week, a 2021 addition of a non-contact period in late summer across Iowa’s Unified Activities organizations.

Interstate Competition: 78% of respondents supported the IHSAA’s current policy on interstate competition, which limits member schools to travel to states contiguous to Iowa, plus Kansas.

Football Scheduling: 74% of respondents wanted the IHSAA to maintain the responsibility of regular season scheduling for football. When offered options to schedule their own contests, member schools mostly selected “no.”

Baseball Games: 83% of respondents supported lowering the permitted number of regular season baseball games, which is currently the highest of all IHSAA sports at 40. The most selected option was 30 games, receiving 44% of votes.

Other topics included coach-athlete contact, winter break, state wrestling, spring scheduling, unified activities, junior high sports, and an open-ended option for future survey recommendations.

Complete results are available for review