Media Resources

Information for IHSAA Media Members

Provided for newspaper, television, radio, online and other media outlets, as well as member schools and interested parties.

View publicly available guidelines, procedures, and information for Iowa boys’ high school sporting events.

General IHSAA Information

  • The IHSAA welcomes media members to high school boys’ sporting events throughout the year. We appreciate the tremendous resource journalism and event coverage provide to our member schools, communities, and student-athletes.
  • IHSAA policies, procedures, and recommendations for media members can be found in the digital Media Policy Manual. 
  • Sport Statistics: Bound | TrackWrestling
  • Achieve: Record Books | Halls of Fame | Archives 
  • Chris Cuellar, communications director, [email protected].

Video Access & Livestreaming

Regular season video or livestreaming is at the discretion of the host school or site.

Media outlets and interested schools or individuals may apply to the IHSAA regarding video at postseason lead-up events, following procedures required for access.

IHSSN and NFHS Network maintain exclusive rights for select IHSAA state tournament and postseason events.

The Iowa High School Sports Network is neither owned nor operated by the IHSAA.

State Tournament Credential Registrations

Applications will open prior to state tournament events.

Applications do NOT guarantee access and approval.

IHSAA policies, procedures, and recommendations for media members can be found in the digital Media Policy Manual. 

  • School Media Representatives
  • State Championship Guidelines

The IHSAA does NOT credential freelance individuals or social media-exclusive outlets.

From 1970 through 2019, the IHSAA has presented an annual award to media members to honor their coverage and commitment to Iowa high school activities.

IHSAA Credentials

The IHSAA issues annual credentials for state tournament events, in partnership with IGHSAU. 

State Tournaments

The IHSAA issues credentials to bona fide media outlets for entry and access to state tournament events. Credentials must be visible when attending state tournament events. The sale or unauthorized transfer of credentials is strictly prohibited. These credentials are not required to cover IHSAA regular season or postseason lead-up events, but may be displayed.

About Credentialing

Credentials and/or access will be granted to approved media outlets across various platforms including, but not limited to: daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, other print or web-based publications, and television stations.

  • i. The IHSAA will only credential bona fide media outlets whose organizations display the following criteria prior to a state tournament event: 1. Legitimate and consistent news-gathering; 2. Editorial oversight; 3. Original content production; 4. A record of coverage; 5. The demonstration of service toward community interest.
  • ii. The IHSAA and IGHSAU reserve the right to set policies and regulate the number of credentials issued to approved media outlets at their respective state tournament events.
  • iii. Independent or commercial photographers will NOT be credentialed for IHSAA state tournament events. Photographers and videographers must be affiliated with approved media outlets and news-gathering organizations to receive access.
  • iv. Social media-based services, scouting, or recruiting services, college coaches, private club organizations, etc., will NOT receive media credentials for IHSAA state tournament events.

Radio Credentialing

Radio stations will not receive the annual passes as they will be credentialed by the IHSSN for select key events (see Media Policy Manual). For all other IHSAA and all IGHSAU state tournament events, radio outlets should apply through each organization’s pre-tournament registration. IHSSN credentialing information is available HERE. 

Requesting Credentials

Outlets interested in attending state tournament events in football (fall), wrestling (winter), basketball (winter), track and field (spring), soccer (spring), or baseball (summer) should complete Media Credential Request forms. The forms may not open until the beginning of the postseason or until event qualifiers are announced. Those forms will appear on this Media page and also through the State Tournament Central pages. Sport-specific media policies may also be available on those pages.

MEDIA POLICIES

IHSAA Style & Use

Toolbox items and guides for IHSAA coverage.

Download IHSAA Logos

Official Logo

Blue Background

Background & Lettering

Black & White

All files above in JPG format. Once opened, they may require right-click and “Save As…” for download.

For other file formats, please email communications director Chris Cuellar, [email protected].

Reference Guide

  • Classifications: Sport classifications are arranged through school enrollment numbers in descending order. The number of classifications vary by sport, as schools with larger enrollments feature in higher numbered classes (ex. 4A, 3A) and smaller enrollments in lower (2A, 1A, A). The IHSAA does not use hyphens in classification titles, with the exception of “Eight-Player” in football.
  • Schools: The IHSAA uses school names as listed through their districts by the Iowa Department of Education. These may be abbreviated or shortened in certain IHSAA uses.
  • Status: The IHSAA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that offers free membership to all high schools in Iowa that are recognized by the Department of Education. It operates without the use of tax monies and is not a department of the Iowa state government.
  • Titles: Official references should include the organization’s title (Iowa High School Athletic Association), acronym (IHSAA), or colloquial identification (Athletic Association). Other references (e.g. the state, IAHSAA, boys’ association, etc.) are considered unofficial and inaccurate.

Logos

The IHSAA outline logo is a trademarked and copyrighted image. It may be downloaded here for appropriate media use.

Official IHSAA colors are Reflex Blue and Red 032 C.

  • Reflex Blue: CMYK 100, 72, 0, 0; RGB 51, 51, 132; HEX 333399.
  • Red 032 C: CMYK 0, 90, 76, 0; RGB 239, 51, 64; HEX EF3340.
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