Maine South shuts down free camp after IHSA call

Two weeks ago, Charlie Bliss and his Maine South passing camp was intercepted by the IHSA.

The architect of the Hawks' high-powered offense had been offering a free instructional camp for quarterbacks, wide receivers and linemen from around the area and state for the last four years.

But after the IHSA received a handful of complaints, the governing body decided to conduct its own investigation. The organization placed a call to Maine South officials Feb. 27, and the school, not wanting to incur penalties for possible violations, closed down the camp March 1.

"There were some things we identified for them to address," said Dave Gannaway, the IHSA's assistant executive director for football. "Them shutting it down must mean something wasn't going right. That was probably the appropriate thing to do on the administration's behalf."

Gannaway said he heard enough credible information to at least inquire. One of the issues was more than two players from the same school attended the camp, which is against the bylaws.

Bliss, South's offensive coordinator on last fall's state championship club, didn't dispute the IHSA's claims.

"If I made a mistake at all, it was I didn't police the sign-in sheet," said the former college quarterback. "With 300 kids it's hard to do and tough to ask people to do that. I couldn't say no to anybody. That's my only fault."

But Bliss balked that he and Maine South were using the camp to the advantage of the Hawks. In fact, Bliss said he coached players from CSL teams and others the Hawks might face in the playoffs during the Sunday sessions that spanned the first several months of the year.

"Bottom line is we're helping kids," he said. "It's a positive situation. It's a win-win for parents and a win-win for kids. It's on a Sunday night and kept them thinking about football, and it was a positive activity."

Maine South's head coach Dave Inserra said the school was blindsided by the IHSA's interest. The former member of the IHSA's football advisory committee agreed with the letter of the law, but he believes the camp never broke the spirit of the law.

"It's a good rule to keep teams from getting an advantage," he said. "But nobody but all the kids were getting help."

When asked, Bliss said he hoped to look into possibly structuring the camp to comply with the rules. But Inserra, a strong opponent of players paying for offseason instruction, said the camp would not open again this year.

"I hope to get it back one day," Bliss said.