The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) announced that varsity high school football teams throughout Illinois will wear “Play Smart. Play Hard.” helmet decals throughout the season, in a show of solidarity among coaches and players.
In a letter enclosed with the decals to head football coaches, the IHSA asked them to talk with players about what the decals represent.
“About 99% of the schools competing in IHSA football this fall won’t win a State Championship and over half won’t even make the playoffs,” said IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman. “Yet, our experiences have shown us that irrespective of how many games a team wins this year, or any year for that matter, coaches have the safety and well-being of their players ahead of all else. They believe the game is going to make their players better students now and better citizens later in life.”
“Communities throughout Illinois rally around their high schools every night of the week,” added Hickman. “This is a chance to unite Statewide, at a time when high school sports, and especially high school football, are under significant scrutiny.”
The player safety initiative was unveiled in May 2015. It is aimed at empowering student-athletes, parents,
coaches, and fans to educate themselves on
- player safety issues
- steps that have been taken in Illinois to protect student-athletes.
“Illinois has been on par with or ahead of the curve on nearly every player-safety issue over the past decade-plus,” said Hickman. “Collaboratively, the IHSA, top medical experts, high school coaches, the State Legislature and the NFHS have all worked together in the best interest of student-athlete safety. We began the “Play Smart. Play Hard.” campaign to spotlight the many efforts that have been taken without unnecessary fanfare.”