IHSAA Commissioner Bobby Cox: 'We're not out to get anybody'

SCHERERVILLE | The IHSAA has a big image problem with its 408 member schools.

Too inflexible. Too dictatorial. Too unsympathetic.

Bobby Cox is the association's eighth commissioner and also has to battle a negative image which his office has held forever, it seems.

Northwest Indiana coaches and media, in particular, have believed for years the IHSAA "has it in for the region."

Cox knows there's a serious disconnect with the public and it worries the former teacher/coach/athletic administrator.

He addressed those issues prior to Monday's sold-out 58th annual Sportsmanship Dinner at Villa Cesare.

"I'm concerned with the IHSAA's image," Cox said. "I'm not concerned with my image. I am who I am and I've been this way since I started in education 33 years ago. I haven't changed.

"I'm pretty straight forward. I don't have flowery speech. I just do my thing. I'm concerned for the association, because people don't understand what we really do."

Cox succeeded Blake Ress on Feb. 1, 2011 and has tried to be as accessible as possible by traveling around the state meeting his critics.

"We spend a lot of time talking about eligibility decisions and things that happened that are negative," Cox said. "But we're going to give out 12 $2,500 scholarships next month to 12 really great kids in the state of Indiana. We give $30,000 in scholarships every year. No one writes about that because it's not news.

"We have a student advisory committee, 18 of the best and brightest kids in our state, that came to our office (Sunday) to develop the curriculum and the format for our student leadership conference which is the largest in the United States -- 800 kids, 100 adults. No one writes about that."

Much of the reporting borders on the sensational, he said.

"They see this kid got ineligible or this kid got suspended or this coach got suspended or this school got put on probation," Cox said. "That's the only thing people focus on."

The IHSAA is a regulatory group and must enforce bylaws agreed upon by its member schools, which have the opportunity every year to submit proposals that would modify those rules if desired.

"If people in Northwest Indiana feel like we're out to get 'em, I think it's misguided," Cox said. "We're not out to get anybody.

"The reality of it is, I don't like writing violations. I prefer not to have any violations on the monthly agenda of the executive committee."

Regarding transfer requests, always a hot topic, Cox said the IHSAA handles more than 3,500 every year -- 95 percent of which lead to full eligibility.

"About 4.15 percent of the rest of them receive limited eligibility. In less than 1 percent of those 3,500 transfers, the kids are ruled ineligible," he said.

The IHSAA also averages "three to six lawsuits" a year, according to Cox, adding the association wins more than it loses.