In IL, the teams can't start anything official - including tryouts - until the Monday of Week 35 of the school year, which usually is somewhere between Feb 26 and Mar 3. First games can't be played until Week 37 (Mar 12ish), and the state tournament begins in Week 46 or 47 (May 14ish, May 21ish). Teams can play a max of 35 games plus state tournament.