Girls wrestling, boys volleyball approved as fully recognized sports by IHSAA

Both sports had been approved as emerging sports with the IHSAA in 2022 with a track toward becoming fully recognized sports this year. IHSAA commissioner Paul Neidig said last week during a meeting with athletic directors at Plainfield “the growth in girls wrestling has been phenomenal.” He reported the growth from less than 300 girls participating in club wrestling five years ago to 1,444 girls representing 177 high schools in the state this winter.

It was expected growth in boys volleyball would be a little bit slower than girls wrestling due to the number of athletes it takes to make up a team. But Neidig said there are 105 schools registered to play boys volleyball this spring, which reaches the threshold of 100 schools across the state’s three districts required to make it a fully recognized sport.

At the straw poll of athletic directors and administrators at Plainfield last week, the vote was 62 to 4 in favor of adding girls wrestling and boys volleyball as recognized sports.