Expenses, New IHSA Rules Keep Gridders at Home

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ A change in Illinois High School Association (IHSA) policy-and concerns about the economy-have forced Du Quoin High School's Football team and coach Al Martin into ending a longtime tradition.

The Indians will not attend the Eastern Illinois University Camp this month, opting to conduct its own week-long camp in Du Quoin.

Scheduled for next Monday-Friday (June 15-19) on Van Metre Field and the DHS practice field, the camp runs daily from 5-9 p.m. for sophomores, juniors and seniors-to-be.

A light meal will be provided to campers during a one-hour break. The cost is just $10 per camper to help offset the cost of meals. Proof of insurance is required.

The Indians will also conduct their annual pre-season camp in late July. That camp is open to all incoming players-freshmen through seniors.

"The IHSA has changed the rules regarding summer camps," Martin said. "Teams can no longer compete against other teams in drills. They can still compete on passing competitions (7-on-7). Due to this change, we've had to re-evaluate our position on attending team summer camps. The IHSA does allow schools to compete against themselves. You are able to run your own offense against your defense."

The cost to attend the four-day and three-night camp at EIU had reached about $200 per athlete. Martin admits the rising price was becoming a factor, but did say the Indians will attend a day-long passing camp (7-on-7) hosted by Eastern later this month. There's also a strong possiblity of entering more local passing tournaments. Several Du Quoin players will continue attending individual and exposure camps.

"We want to cointue to give our athletes an opportunity to improve their skills and work together as a team," Martin said. "We want to provide an affordable and cost effective camp here. We will follow all IHSA guidelines. The Eastern camp was an expense to our athletes, but I felt the overall experience was worth the cost. Over the years, our kids were able to get a lot of exposure by attending the Eastern camp."

Martin-a member of the IHSA's Football Advisory Board-indicated the Du Quoin camp will be conducted along the same lines of Eastern's format.

"We will have the inside run and passing competitions along with individual and team instruction," he said.