State Association Recap

by Rachel Allenick, Group Director State Associations

It’s crazy to think that the fall and winter championships have come and gone and the spring championships are right around the corner. I was lucky enough to attend a number of different state association events and this past fall I added one more to the list, the CIF State Football Championship Bowl Games, presented by Farmers Insurance. The Championship Bowl Games were held on December 14^th and 15^th at the Home Depot Center (HDC) in Carson, California.

It’s always fun to attend events in various states to see how differently things can be done. Some of you may not know that the HDC is actually home to the LA Galaxy (a professional soccer team). With that being the case, temporary turf was brought in to replace the natural grass field used for soccer games. The turf was laid down and all necessary lines were spray painted on, along with the CIF logo on the field and the Farmers Insurance Group logo in the end zones. Not only was turf brought in for the weekend, but so were LED boards to display sponsor graphics during the championship games. Sponsorships at the high school level have continued to grow and it’s important to showcase these brands throughout the events. The CIF did just that as there were four different boards each stretching from the end zone to the 30 yard line in all four corners of the field. The boards rotated sponsor logos throughout the entire weekend. This made for some great photo opportunities and really got the individual sponsor names out there to the fans in attendance and those watching on TV.

I was also fortunate enough to attend the state championships in Ohio, where the OHSAA always puts on great events. The OHSAA hosted the six championships at two different stadiums in two days at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon and Fawcett Stadium in Canton (home to the Pro Football Hall of Fame). Fall 2014 the association will be adding a seventh division and spreading the championships out to three days. Some people might think it makes things easier having two different stadiums, but you actually have to have twice as many workers and volunteers to cover the concession stands, ticket gates, press boxes, etc.  There are members of the host committee that go from stadium to stadium for each game; while one stadium is finishing up a game for one division the other stadium is starting another game for a different division.

No matter how different each state might be when it comes to putting on its football championships or any championship event for that matter, each association has one goal in common: to give the participating schools and fans the best experience possible. I hope my luck continues and I get the chance to attend many more events in other states to see how their tournaments are run.