BLOOMINGTON — The IHSA board of administrators is anticipated to decide on at present which of 4 Illinois communities will host highschool soccer video games for the following 5 years.
The board will confer this morning and should have an announcement this afternoon, IHSA spokesman Matt Troha stated Tuesday.
The state soccer finals have rotated yearly between Champaign’s Memorial Stadium and DeKalb’s Huskie Stadium since 2013. The IHSA is in search of to host the video games at a set location from November 2023 by way of November 2027.
This will jeopardize the joint providing of Go to Champaign County and the College of Illinois; because it stands, the Illinois soccer program will solely permit Memorial Stadium to host three of these 5 years. The state finals are often hosted the weekend after Thanksgiving.
“We hope they keep; we all know everybody loves to go to Champaign,” Mike Koon of Go to Champaign County stated throughout his SportsTalk look final month. “We’re deprived by the truth that we are able to solely host as soon as each two years.”
Three different cities submitted bids for full-time internet hosting duties: DeKalb at Northern Illinois College, Carbondale at Southern Illinois College and Bloomington-Regular at Illinois State.
“Despite the fact that we’re all competing for a vital bid, we’re all colleagues on this,” stated Brad Hoey, particular occasions coordinator for the DeKalb County Conference and Guests Bureau. “All of us need our state to achieve success. It is an financial boon to the group it goes to, and that is nice; a rising tide lifts all ships.”
Candidates offered knowledge on their venue’s insurance coverage protection, safety plan, accessibility and technical options, together with parking, locker and coaching amenities, concessions and different operational particulars as a part of their bids.
Here is a fast breakdown of the rivals.
Regular, Hancock Stadium (13,391 seats)
Dwelling of the Illinois State Redbirds since 1963, the venue hosted the primary IHSA soccer state title video games in 1974 and returned every year by way of 1999.
A scheduling battle with an ISU soccer playoff recreation led to the soccer state finals being moved to Champaign, they usually have not returned since.
Carbondale, Saluki Stadium (~15,000 seats)
Positioned simply over 50 miles from the southern tip of Illinois, Saluki Stadium is the one venue submitted for a bid that has not beforehand hosted IHSA title video games.
Accomplished in August 2010, the stadium has some distinctive options: a grass berm close to the north finish zone that seats about 2,500 on blankets and garden chairs and a “state-of-the-art” video board put in in 2019, he stated SIU Senior Affiliate Athletic Director Tom Weber.
“I believe it will be nice for our native companies that point of 12 months to have folks from all around the state come to play and watch soccer,” he stated.
Champaign, Memorial Stadium (60,000 seats)
The historic house of the Preventing Illini is contemporary off internet hosting the 2018 IHSA State Finals for the primary time. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the occasion being canceled in 2020.
The rationale it might’t host a full five-year block? Illinois soccer is scheduled to host Northwestern at Memorial Stadium on Nov. 25, 2023 and Nov. 29, 2025.
DeKalb, Huskie Stadium (24,000 seats)
The stadium opened in 1965 for the NIU Huskies has hosted the IHSA soccer finals 5 occasions within the final ten years (all odd-numbered years since 2013).
Hoey stated the mid-sized really feel of the stadium units it aside.
“The seats are very near the pitch; he is very fan pleasant,” Hoey stated. “There is a degree of pleasure for the attendees as a result of the followers are so shut and proper there.”
