The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is proud to celebrate the 50th editions of both its Girls Volleyball State Finals and Football State Championship games in November of 2024.

Both milestone events will occur on the campus of Illinois State University (ISU) in Normal, as ISU’s CEFCU Arena will host the 2024 IHSA Girls Volleyball State Finals on November 15-16, and the eight state championship football games will unfold at Hancock Stadium on Thanksgiving weekend (November 29-30).

To help commemorate the past 50 years, the IHSA will release the Top 50 Volleyball Programs and Top 50 Football Programs from the State Series era (1974-2024) for both sports throughout the fall. A group of current and former high school coaches, administrators, and media members from around the state served on the committees to select the Top 50 programs in each sport.

“Releasing the Top 50 Programs is a celebration of the rich history and tradition of high school girls volleyball and football in the state of Illinois,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “It will be a fun way to remember many of the great teams, players, and coaches who have helped make high school sports in Illinois so special.”

Prior to the passage of Title IX in 1972, high school sports for girls in Illinois were conducted by the Illinois League of High School Girls Athletic Associations (commonly referred to as the GAA). Most GAA competitions were non-traditional in comparison to current IHSA formats, as they generally consisted of “festivals” where multiple area schools would gather to play contests in several sports.

“So much has changed since 1974,” said NFHS Hall of Fame Coach Peg Kopec, who won more matches (1,248) and state titles (12) than any other coach in state history during her 42-year tenure as head coach at St. Francis High School in Wheaton. “But what hasn’t changed is the amazing high school volleyball being played in Illinois. Just look at the all the players from Illinois on the USA Women’s Volleyball National team.”

High school football games in the state date all the way back to 1885, but despite the IHSA conducting postseason tournaments in sports like boys basketball since 1908, the IHSA football playoffs did not debut until 1974.

“I remember there being a lot of excitement about the playoffs among the coaches throughout the 1974 season,” said Ken Leonard, who was a college student helping coach at Chenoa High School in 1974 and later went on to win an IHSA-record 419 combined games at Gridley High School and Sacred Heart-Griffin High School, including six state titles at the latter. “Football was already big at the time, but the playoffs and state championship games boosted it to another level. It helped the growth of the game.”

Committee members were provided historical data on approximately 200 programs in each sport, which they voted on to whittle it down to the Top 50 list.

“The raw numbers don’t always tell the true story in Illinois high school sports,” said IHSA Assistant Executive Director Matt Troha. “We could have used a formula to name the Top 50 programs, where state championships are worth a certain number of points and postseason wins are worth a certain number of points, but I really don’t think that would have truly reflected the history of IHSA girls volleyball and football. Given the geographical format of IHSA tournaments, there are many programs who never won a state title, likely because they continually ran into another program on our Top 50 list in their geographic area. On the flip side, other programs certainly benefitted from class expansion, winning multiple state titles in short periods of time. There are always going to be programs that have garnered the utmost respect of opposing coaches, regardless of what the numbers say. We asked our committee members to use their lived experiences to tell us what programs belonged on the lists.”

Bragging rights aren’t the only spoils available for those that helped contribute to a Top 50 program, as IHSA partner Minerva Promotions has announced exclusive merchandise opportunities for the 50 respective girls volleyball and football programs who will be recognized. Learn more about Minerva’s Top 50 Football Program merchandise here and Minerva’s Top 50 Girls Volleyball merchandise here.

“It is amazing to see how the game has grown over 50 years and I am so happy for the opportunities that the young women who play and coach the sport have today,” said Nancy (Wichgers) Pedersen, who won nine state titles while coaching at Mother McAuley High School in Chicago from 1983 to 2004. “I am thankful I got to participate in that growth and contribute to what it has become today. I encourage all of the players today to give back to the sport however they can and never take these opportunities for granted.”