The IHSA football season will have a new practice start date in 2026 after member schools voted to approve a proposal by a narrow margin overnight Thursday.
In a press release, IHSA said following the conclusion of voting at midnight on Feb. 12, it was announced that the member schools voted to approve a special by-law proposal impacting the start date of the 2026 football season and the number of practices required per player to compete in the first game.
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The proposal passed by a margin of 290 in favor, 245 opposed and 67 with no opinion. Voting on this proposal opened on Jan. 29, and 75% (602) of the IHSA membership cast a ballot in the election.
The result is that the first practice date of the 2026 IHSA football season will move to Aug. 5, 2026. Additionally, each player will be required to complete 12 days of on-field practices (excluding Saturdays; 1 1/2 hours per player per practice required) before they are eligible to compete in their first contest.
This newest development comes after the IHSA member schools approved 12 proposals back in December 2025, including moving the start of football games up one week (eliminating the Week 0 scrimmage), adding 16 teams per classification to the playoffs and expanding the playoffs by one week. During the 2025 IHSA football season, the Week 1 games were played on the weekend of Aug. 29.
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As a result of the playoff expansion, it initially reduced the number of practices prior to the first game to nine.
Following that vote, the IHSA conducted extensive discussions with the IHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee and other state and national leaders on player safety. This ultimately led the IHSA Board of Directors to initiate the process of Thursday’s special vote to address both the practice start date and number of required practices.
“Despite the cumbersome nature of the process, I am confident this outcome is in the best interest of student-athlete safety,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “We recognize that our member schools may bring forward ideas to alter the 2027 football season schedule as a result, and we welcome that. However, given that we are less than six months from the season, we believe this is a positive result that provides scheduling clarity for teams, coaches, and student-athletes ahead of the 2026 season, while prioritizing safety.”