High school activities and athletics help students build up a variety of skills like time management, leadership and teamwork, according to Notre Dame principal Dan Tully. They also provide an opportunity to build camaraderie, he said.
“It’s really about not just educating the mind but also the heart,” Tully said.
Tully is the newest member of the IHSA Board of Directors. The board voted at its Jan. 9 meeting to appoint him to the vacant at-large seat. His seat is reserved for a principal from a non-boundaried school. Fenwick principal Peter Groom resigned from the board, vacating the seat.
Tully is in his 10th year as principal at Notre Dame. Prior to that, he attended the school as a student, and worked as a teacher, director of student activities and assistant principal at the school. He’s also been an assistant baseball coach, pep club moderator and student council moderator.
“He has an interest in everything that goes around with the school,” Notre Dame athletic director Mike Hennessey said. “He has a great understanding of where athletics fits into the school picture.”
According to the IHSA website, the board “approves IHSA policies, interprets the rules and employs an executive director and staff to administer the programs of the IHSA.”
Tully knows he’s one of 10 voices on the board, so he said his initial role will be to listen and learn to find out all there is to know. Listening, he said, will be key.
Board members are principals who are elected to three-year terms, but Tully will be finishing out Groom’s term, which ends this year. He will then have the option to run for a three-year term of his own, IHSA spokesperson Matt Troha said.
Tully said he hopes he can contribute something to the students of Illinois in terms of athletics and activities. He’s also confident that he can represent the interests of non-public schools.
“I think it’s important that we have a voice on the board,” Tully said. “We’re just looking for an even playing field.”
One item that he thinks is worth digging into is the success factor. The success factor, which is only applied to non-public schools, means that if a school has success in a particular sport over a certain period of time, it will be moved up to a higher classification.
“I think it’s time that we take a look at that to see if that’s equitable and fair for the student-athletes in Illinois,” Tully said.
Getting involved with decision-making regarding high school athletics and activities is nothing new for Tully. He served on the IHSA legislative commission in 2013 and 2014. During that time, Tully said he learned about the issues facing Illinois schools, plus he was there to speak up on behalf of the schools in his region along with the non-public schools. It was a reminder of how large and diverse the state is, and there are a variety of interests from schools around the state, he said.
He’s also been part of the Interscholastic Council of Private Schools, a group that discusses issues pertaining to athletics and non-public schools in Illinois.
“So I think from that range of his experiences and expertise … he has good information in his hands,” Hennessey said.
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Tully sees athletics and activities wrapped up in the educational process. He also understands that one doesn’t supersede the other, Hennessey said.
The interscholastic competition in the state is outstanding, Tully said. He also believes that participating in these activities and athletics really brings out “the whole person.”
“Any time you get to be a part of seeing young people try new things, excel at things, either as a team or as an individual, that’s what we’re all about in education,” Tully said. “In this particular case, it’s some sort of activity or athletics.”
Heather Rule is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press