The Central States Schools for the Deaf 'CSSD'
Tournament History
The Ohio School for the Deaf is proud to host the 54th Annual CSSD Basketball and Cheerleading Tournament. The CSSD membership is currently comprised of five state schools for the Deaf: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Competition is held annually for girls' volleyball (October), girls' and boys' basketball and cheerleading (January), and girls' and boys' track and field (May).
The Central States Schools for the Deaf Basketball Tournament is the granddaddy of all basketball tourneys for the Deaf in the United States. The CSSD competition began in 1925 at the Indiana School for the Deaf. Then Indiana Superintendent Dr. Oscar Pittenger, along with his staff and coaches, are credited with planning the first tournament. The original deaf schools in the 1925 tournament were Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. Soon after, the popularity of this event led to other regional tournaments such as the Mason-Dixon, Eastern, Midwestern, and New England. The winners of these regional tournaments would then meet to select a national champion. Three central states schools - Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin - have held the national title at one time or another. The national tournament has been discontinued.
The CSSD tournament ws suspended in 1941 due to the World War II. It was finally renewed in 1971 by the Illinois School for the Deaf, under the direction of then ISD Athletic Director, Mike Moore. The tournament grew to eight member teams including Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin in 1988.
The CSSD Basketball and Cheerleading Tournament, as we know it today, began in 1989. In 1989 the four western schools - Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska - broke away from CSSD and joined with Iowa and the Dakotas to form the Great Plains Schools for the Deaf Tournament. Only Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin remained in the CSSD. Michigan became a full member in 1990.