After years of sharing uniforms, schedules, and fields, D99 cooperative sports are splitting apart. This will reshape rosters, programs, and upgrade the cross-town rivalry to a new level. Both lacrosse and gymnastics are one of DGN-DGS most popular co-op sports for the boys and girls programs. Associative executive director of the IHSA, Matt Troha, announced all this information in a recently published article.
“Illinois High School Association (IHSA) member schools approved all 12 amendment proposals that appeared on the all-school ballot during the annual by-law referendum process that concluded on Dec. 15, 2025,” Troha said. “Cooperative sports teams made up of 3,500 students or more will no longer be eligible to compete for IHSA State Series team awards.”
The new rule will be implemented in the 2026-27 season. The population of D99 is roughly 4500 students, putting the district just over that 3500 mark. With co-op sports only attracting a small percentage of students from both DGN and DGS, the separation will significantly impact participating athletes at all levels.
“I hope that schools will still allow that participation opportunity, and even if it necessarily means they can’t play in the postseason,” Troha said. “We also understand that that’s going to be a disappointment for some people to not have that opportunity. I think we’re just hopeful that they can keep their programs going.”
This implemented rule will still allow for co-op sports to exist, but not directly through the IHSA. Troha, along with the rest of the IHSA, want student athletes to still be able to participate in their desired sports, while still having an equal opportunity to do so. One athlete in particular that is directly affected is 3-year DGN lacrosse player Ella Cho.
“I think that the split will have me take more responsibility, since we would be losing important upperclassmen,” Cho said. The split would give every player more opportunity to step up and challenge themselves in new positions and in their growth.”
Cho has begun to focus on what she needs to do to continue to make the program great, even with the loss of half their team. While athletes will miss one another, Cho knows what it will take to get this program to bounce back from this setback. DGN athletic director, David Rose, was able to give his insight involving what these programs will look like and how they’ll be affected in the future.
“With lacrosse specifically, which is the one that’s going to be impacted the most, we start with co-op to be able to offer it to our athletes,” Rose said. “The hope through co-ops is that you continue to grow programs to where you don’t need to co-op anymore.”
This was a change that was bound to come with the large growth in D99 co-op sports. Many also believe that this was the initial goal when co-op sports were initially brought to D99. That being said, the fact this was meant to come eventually doesn’t mean that the athletes were aware or prepared for this change.
“Obviously, there’s added stress on facilities. You need more coaches. Financially, there’s a heavier burden,” Rose said. “Athletes and coaches need to realize we are going to do whatever it is we need to do to make sure that we are still offering something to our athletes.”
Many difficult factors are coming into the change, and they knowingly come with negative impacts on the district. With those in mind, administration and Rose specifically will work to make this as easy a transition as possible.
This new IHSA rule will have a great impact on D99 sports. Many athletes will be affected, and lots of changes will be made. Athletes will be missing their friends and hoping the legacy of what they have worked to build will continue to grow. Although this change will be very hard on both athletes and coaches, the redevelopment of these programs have the potential to become something greater.