Give Them Games

As the 2024-25 school sports year concludes, a missed opportunity for needed change

(Photo Credit: Shaw Local)

There’s a scene in the always rewatchable film “Gladiator” involving Commodus (played by Joaquin Phoenix) and sister Lucilia (played by Connie Nielsen).

Hungry to seize more power, Commodus and Lucilia get into a conversation about the “greatness of Rome.”

“What is that?” Commodus asks his sister.

“An idea…a vision…” Lucilia responds.

“I will give them the greatest vision of their lives,” Commodus says.

That vision: Rome got games. Lots of games.

Scrolling through TwitterX the last few Monday mornings, I saw quite a few videos of games and celebrations—high school teams winning state titles in various sports, whether it be track, lacrosse, softball, or just this past weekend, baseball.

Winning a state championship is hard and rare. The athletes deserve the well-earned accolades. For the communities that support them, those moments are a source of pride. Behind every state champion is a parent, a coach, and countless other adults who donated time to assist that boy or girl in achieving greatness. There’s a purity in those journeys that can never be erased.

As the athletes and communities soak up the afterglow of trophy-hoisting seasons and roll into their summers, we can’t ignore the behavior of those tasked with overseeing the “games.”

Because there’s nothing pure or prideful about them.

Consider this: when the 2025-26 school cycle starts and the next season of games kicks off in August, here are a few notable positions staked out by the stewards of school sports, the Illinois High School Association:

*Boys can compete with girls

*Restrictions on transfers

*disallowing simultaneous club and high school participation

These stances are nothing new. The IHSA has long held these positions.

But the fusing of politics and sports into all areas of national culture finally floated downstream into Springfield earlier this year. Outsiders started to pay attention, and state congressmen, never concerned before about prep athletics, started to catch the drift. Generational shifts around the definition of amateurism left parents and athletes unsettled about the future. What they did know and were not shy about expressing was a desire for change and for that change to reflect what was happening at the collegiate level—more freedom, less regulation. Illinois legislators took notice and acted accordingly, forming committees and adding co-sponsors to proposed bills.

All of the activity and ensuing Chicago media coverage forced the IHSA out of hiding and into an area where they are not comfortable—publicly defending rules that are out of touch in today’s athlete-friendly climate.

As other state high school associations move to rewrite rules to erase restrictions, the IHSA dug in, pleading to its member schools to lobby against changes and keep the status quo. By the end of the legislative session, there was some movement. Sensing the political tides were shifting and stubbornness a losing strategy, concessions on transfers (one-time allowance) and in-season club participation (multiple waivers) were negotiated. The budget dysfunction in Springfield meant no proposals were agreed to by both the Senate and House legislators, although the IHSA and state lawmakers did announce agreement on a Right to Play bill in some form for a targeted January launch.

But as I write this in June, nothing has really changed. The state association's bylaws still don’t include a fair transfer policy or a clear dividing line between girls’ and boys’ sports. And that’s shameful.

It’s not as if the IHSA hasn’t had opportunities to shift away from the irrational and show leadership. It did and failed to act.

When President Trump signed an executive order in February banning boys from competing in girls’ sports, those in charge at the IHSA could have affirmed Trump’s order. It didn’t need support from the state legislature, support that was never going to happen as Illinois Dems led the charge of anti-Trumpism.

IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson and Board Chairman Dan Tully could have been the agents of sensible change and thrown member support behind defending female athletics. Instead, we got what happened in Naperville at the middle school state track championships, when a girl posing as a boy won multiple events. The incident was an embarrassment to all parties that sanctioned the farcical display of sportsmanship. Just where were those parties? Silent, guarding their desks, not wanting to defend the indefensible, that boys are not boys but instead are a version of a larger kaleidoscope of genders that a child can claim at any time. It’s pathetic and not a position a reasonable-minded person at any level of authority or organization would take.

Last weekend was the final state tournament of the 2024-25 sports season. While on summer vacation and not tasked with conducting day-to-day school sports business, the powers that be could take time for reflection. They could move to reverse positions on trans and transfers. As we’ve seen in other states, school sports associations don’t have to wait for state legislatures to act. It can drive change, not always playing catch-up from the rear.

But based on recent history, that’s unlikely. The IHSA will do its business, reshuffle committees, and tweak a few rules, but not rock the boat. After all, what can be asked of a philanthropic, kids-first non-profit?

In another scene from “Gladiator,” after Commodus has activated his plan, two senators meet in the town square. One exasperatedly says to the other, “Games. 150 days of games!”

One of the senators, Gracchus, responds, “The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the senate but the sand of the Colosseum.”

There’s wisdom in that beautiful line.

Yes, enjoy the games. Celebrate the athletes and their communities. But don’t allow the games and the athletes who play them to distract from the machinations of the “senate” that runs school sports.

There is much still to change, and unfortunately, little apparent compulsion to fix.

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