The Illinois House approved a resolution Monday that calls for a review of the body that oversees high school sports and other extracurricular activities — including whether a state agency should take over its duties.

House members voted 55-51 to conduct the review of the Illinois High School Association.

The resolution calls for the House’s Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education to “hold subject matter hearings on the administration and funding of high school sports, the safety of high school athletes, the systems and protocols of the Illinois High School Association, the costs and income associated with the administration of high school sports, and the feasibility of statutorily transferring the duties and functions of the IHSA to the State Board of Education.”

The measure’s sponsor, Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, said she has various concerns about the operation of the organization, such as its sponsorship contracts. She said the organization has not been cooperative in voluntarily providing information to lawmakers.

Chapa LaVia, a Democrat from Chicago, said there’s no transparency in the operation of IHSA. She said if the hearings show that the organization is doing a good job, that’s fine.

“If they’re doing a great job…now everybody knows, and their questions are settled,” she said. “Why would anybody be afraid of a House resolution and hearings? If they (ISHA officials) don’t want to come, it’s kind of interesting.”

Rep. John Cavaletto, R-Salem, who is a former high school basketball coach and school administrator, urged colleagues to vote against the measure. He said schools are hands-on members of IHSA.

“The oversight of the IHSA is great. It’s very transparent,” Cavaletto said.

He added that the organization’s events bring “considerable dollars to communities,” and the IHSA’s judgment and integrity have never been questioned.

The organization provided about $2.6 million in revenue to its member schools last year. Cavaletto said the organization’s sponsorship deals with corporations help keep down the costs of extracurricular activities.

IHSA officials have said they’re baffled by the legislature’s involvement. IHSA director Marty Hickman has said the organization’s annual audit is posted on the IHSA website, and as a not-for-profit, the group is required to file federal financial reports that are available for public review.

Hickman on Monday said the IHSA “has nothing to hide and will be fully cooperative” with the General Assembly.

“We wish Rep. Chapa LaVia had provided the courtesy of discussing any issues she believes exist within our organization prior to the introduction of this resolution, which has unfairly cast the Association in a negative light,” Hickman said. “While we believe the hearings she proposes will be an unnecessary strain on the time and resources of both the General Assembly and the IHSA, we welcome the opportunity to clear up any misconceptions this resolution has created.”

Belleville School District 201 Superintendent Jeff Dosier said his district has always had a good relationship with IHSA.

“I’m not sure what the purpose of this is,” he said. “The IHSA has been good for Belleville East and Belleville West.”

Dosier described Hickman as a “person with a great deal of integrity.”

“Marty Hickman has been very upfront,” Dosier said. “He’s been very forthcoming every time I’ve talked to him.”

Granite City Superintendent Jim Greenwald — who is a former IHSA board member and former president of the Southwestern Conference — thinks it would be a terrible idea to put IHSA’s work under the state board.

“In all of my years as an administrator, I have been very impressed with the operations of IHSA,” Greenwald said. “All a person has to do is go to their website to see how comprehensive and complete they are. All the people I’ve worked with over the years are very professional.”

IHSA is supported through its sponsorships and televising the state tournaments, Greenwald said, which means that the member school districts have not had to pay membership fees in years. The system in which a nonprofit organization that is separate from the state organizes interscholastic athletics and non-athletic co-curriculars is the standard structure for most states, Greenwald said; most do not have state oversight for interscholastic competition.

And with the struggles faced by ISBE, Greenwald said he didn’t see how the state would be able to take on those responsibilities.

“It would be a big loss and would really affect the schools and their extracurriculars,” Greenwald said. “I’m not saying ISBE would not do a good job, but as undermanned as they are… It would be a huge job.”

The resolution was supported by two media organizations: the Illinois Broadcasters Association and the Illinois Press Association. The Press Association’s president, Dennis DeRossett, has said taxpayers deserve to know more about how the IHSA operates.

“They claim to be exempt from both the Freedom of Information Act and Open Meetings Act, and they argue that they alone should control any revenue that is ultimately derived from taxpayer-funded sporting events,” DeRossett said.

The media and the sanctioning bodies for high school sports in some states have clashed over the use of images and video from sports events.

A spokeswoman for the state board of education has said taking over the ISHA’s work would mean the government agency would need more money and employees.

The IHSA was set up in 1900. It is not funded by tax dollars or administered by state government. It has more than 780 member high schools, which pay fees to the organization.

The organization is the sanctioning body for high school activities ranging from bass fishing and football to chess and scholar bowl.

ST. LOUIS – Southern Illinois senior first baseman Ryan Casillas has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week for his performance in five games this past week.

Casillas helped the Salukis to three wins this past week, driving in seven runs and recording multiple hits in three of five games. In SIU’s win over Missouri on Tuesday, he set a career high with four hits and matched a career high with three RBIs.  Three days later, Casillas again drove in three more runs in the series opener against Bradley. In that game, he also hit his team-leading fourth home run of the season. Four of his eight hits for the week went for extra bases.

Casillas is the first Saluki to earn MVC baseball player of the week honors this season.

Acts 13:36

Do you ever wonder about what God’s purpose for you might be?  Have you ever contemplated why God would have you born in this generation and not a hundred years earlier, or later?  How will our great-grandchildren see our lives long after we’ve died?

In the Acts of the Apostles at chapter 13 and verse 36, the Apostle Paul says, “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers, and underwent decay;”

Paul, many generations after King David had died, says of him that he served the purpose of God in his own generation.  What a marvelous legacy!  How great would that be for you and me, to know that we had served God’s purpose in our own generation.  How do we approach such matters?  What shall we do to insure our success in this pursuit?

Let’s do as David did and give ourselves fully to seeking God’s face and to serving Him only.  Let’s give the very best of all that we are and all we have to loving God.  Then as we sleep with our fathers, we shall have confidence that our descendents will look upon us as having served the purpose of God in our own generation.

As you pray today, ask the Lord to show you His purpose for you in this generation.  Ask Him further for the power and wisdom to carry it out.

BY JOHN D. HOMAN

Logan Media Services

ROBINSON – It was not a good day for the John A. Logan College baseball team Sunday as the Vols dropped a doubleheader to Lincoln Trail College, 4-3 and 6-1.

With the two losses, Logan is now tied for first with the Statesmen at 10 wins apiece.

Freshman righthander Jake Herron took the loss in the opener, allowing three of the four runs in the first inning. He went eight innings altogether, scattering nine hits while striking out seven and walking three.

The Vols pulled within a run in the eighth on a two-run single by Tanner Scott and put the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the ninth, but couldn’t deliver the big hit.

Scott paced a 10-hit attack with two safeties. Zach Ditto also collected two hits.

In the nightcap, Logan wasted a good pitching performance by freshman Ryan Dunne, who struck out 12. Dunne allowed only two runs on four hits through the first five innings before tiring in the sixth.

Lincoln Trail starter Damon Olds was even better, checking the Vols on one hit in seven innings of work, fanning eight. Culver Plant had the lone Vols hit, a seventh-inning single.

Vols head coach Jerry Halstead was complimentary of the Statesmen.

“I thought their pitching was outstanding today,” he said. “They kind of showed every weakness we had at the plate.”

Halstead said his team has much room for improvement.

“There’s a reason why we’re only 16-14 overall,” he said. “You have to come to the park ready to play every day. You can’t fall behind the hitters and walk people. You can’t have wild pitches and passed balls. You can’t fall behind three games in a row and win consistently. Amazingly, we’re still in the hunt for a conference title. We have to forget about what happened today and get right back at it this week.”

Logan returns to action Tuesday when it hosts Shawnee.