IHSAA summer rules set July moratorium and basketball roster limits

The Indiana High School Athletic Association has locked in the summer rules that will govern every gym, camp and travel-ball decision across the state: the 2026 summer period runs from May 26 through Aug. 2, and the league’s seven-day moratorium will hit from June 29 through July 5.

That shutdown is absolute. During the moratorium, there can be no contact between athletes and coaches and no athletic activities, including conditioning. For basketball programs, that means the first week of July is off limits for workouts, team instruction and the kind of open-gym sessions schools often use to keep players connected in the middle of the summer circuit.

The roster limit is just as clear. In basketball, no more than three students from the same school team may be rostered together on the same non-school team at the same time. Seniors who have exhausted eligibility do not count toward that total, which gives programs a small exception for older players who are done with high school competition.

The IHSAA also drew a bright line around school-sponsored summer work. Except for football, if a member school sponsors activities for its student-athletes during the summer, those activities must operate through a Summer Open Facility program. Summer athletic competitions can still happen outside that model, but the school-run instructional side has to stay inside the association’s framework. School-sponsored camps and clinics must end before Aug. 2, while non-school winter and spring sport camps and clinics can continue on or after Aug. 14.

There is more calendar pressure now than there was a year ago. Beginning with the 2025-26 school year, each member school must also designate five additional separate weekdays with no contact between athletes and coaches and no athletic activities, including conditioning. Beginning in Summer 2027, the current non-school-team limit will apply equally to students taking part in Summer Team Sport Practices and Contests as members of a non-school team, so this season serves as the bridge before that broader rule takes hold.

Schools are already translating the state rules into local calendars. Bremen High School has posted a June 29 to July 10 moratorium window, with July 6 through July 10 listed as its five additional weekday no-contact dates. Lafayette Central Catholic has also posted moratorium dates for June 29 to July 5 and July 27 to Aug. 2. The message is the same in both places: July is not a free-for-all, and the teams that plan around the dates will avoid the mistakes that usually cost programs time, trust and eligibility headaches.