Once upon a time, high school kids used to get together on a nice spring day, choose up sides and play some basketball.
The two sides might even make up names, maybe the Lions and the Tigers or the Snakes and the Giraffes.
Those days are mostly long gone–everything is way too organized now. But thanks to the Illinois High School Association, the animals have returned to the Jungle League.
For about 40 years, the Jungle League has given high school kids a chance to work on their games at a succession of venues, currently Chicago’s Hamlin Park. At first, teams used animal names, but in recent years most have used the names of the high schools their players attend.
An IHSA crackdown on spring and fall basketball activity has changed that. Association officials had long made it clear a high school coach could not coach a team that had more than two of his players on it or drive that team’s players to games.
In the last year, though, the IHSA has strengthened its interpretation and enforcement of existing rules to prohibit coaches from having virtually any role in organizing their players’ spring and fall competition, giving them equipment or even allowing them to use their schools’ names.
That’s why John Hodel, who has run the Jungle League for 21 years, says the animal nicknames are back.
“We want to make sure there are no violations of IHSA standards,” said Hodel, adding that some of the 20 or so teams in the Jungle League often have represented more than one high school anyway. “All I’m doing is giving kids an opportunity to play.
“There’s nothing wrong with kids playing outside the season.”
The IHSA crackdown has left many coaches nervous and some still unsure of what they can and can’t do.
“Some schools are reticent about playing this year,” said Hodel, who doesn’t know yet if that feeling will translate into fewer teams for the Jungle League.
Centurion Classic coordinator Pat Quinn said he sensed less interest among coaches this year for spots in his 16-team tournament, which has taken place since 1988 at Marquette Manor Baptist Church in Downers Grove as part of a Christian outreach.
He, nonetheless, had a full field lined up before deciding to suspend the tournament for at least this year because of concerns it might violate IHSA rules.
“We felt we were always in the spirit of what the IHSA wanted us to do and didn’t violate anything, but maybe there were some technicalities we were not aware of, so we didn’t want to go forward until we knew we were on solid ground,” Quinn said. “We didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize schools’ or players’ eligibility.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to resurrect it next year.”
Coaches have been spooked in particular by the IHSA’s suspension of Hales Franciscan from the recent Class A state tournament, in part for violations of out-of-season competition rules.
St. Joseph coach Gene Pingatore is worried enough that he doubts his team will participate in any spring leagues or tournaments for the first time in his 35 years as head coach at the school.
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“I don’t want to do something to cause us to be put on probation,” he said. “It’s just not worth it.”
Riverside-Brookfield was going to start an eight-team spring league but backed off because of the IHSA crackdown.
“Right now everything is kind of scary, and we want to stay away from it,” R-B coach Tom McCloskey said.
Part of the thinking behind out-of-season restrictions is keep a coach from pressuring kids to keep playing his sport and not try any others. It’s hard to argue with that, but these days any rule has unintended consequences.
One irony is that the IHSA recently has allowed coaches 25 days with their teams in the summer, a change aimed at lessening the power of outside influences, including traveling team coaches.
The spring and fall crackdown, however, may cause more high school players to join club teams.
“I think all that is happening now is they’re taking influence away from the high school coach and giving more influence to the [club] coaches,” McCloskey said.
“I think kids are better off being influenced by the high school coach.”
It is, after all, a jungle out there.
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