BLOOMINGTON — All Illinois High School Association sports and activities remain paused, but the IHSA remains committed to getting all sports season in this school year. That was the word from the IHSA Board of Directors meeting today.
The Board plans to meet with representatives from the IDPH and the Governor’s office before the end of the year to develop a timeline for resumption of winter sports. Following that meeting the Board will hold a special meeting to finalize the schedules for the winter, spring, and summer seasons.
“The Board reiterated on Monday that they plan to do everything in their power to provide a season for every IHSA sport in 2020-21,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “There have been no cancellations of any sports, or discussions about cancelling any sports, thus far. The Board appreciates the patience and flexibility of the IHSA membership and remain optimistic, especially as vaccines begin to be administered, that we will return to conducting IHSA sports early in 2021.”
Representatives from the IDPH and Governor’s office have agreed to meet with the IHSA, but a date has not been decided. The Board invited representatives from the IDPH and Governor’s office to their November meeting, but those representatives declined to attend. When asked at a press conference prior to that November meeting if he or representatives from his office would be attending, Pritzker said his office was available for consultation, but “they (IHSA) know where we stand.”
In addition to moving Girls Badminton from spring to winter, the Board approved contact days for out-of-season IHSA sports as soon as the Tier 3 mitigations are lifted. These contact days will be limited to six hours per student-athlete per sport each week. These contact days can include practices, drills, and intra-squad scrimmages allowable under IDPH guidance. Competition against another school, whether played in-state or out-of-state is not allowed.
“The Board felt that it was important for the physical and mental health of our student-athletes to resume contacts days for all out-of-season sports as soon IDPH deems it safe,” said Anderson. “Winter sports are not included, as we anticipate all low-risk winter sports will be able to begin their seasons at the same time. Basketball remains the outlier in the equation. We hope to be able to conduct basketball during the winter season, but if we cannot, basketball will be provided the same contact day opportunity as we determine where the basketball seasons fits best in the remainder of the school year.”
The Board did pass guidance for spectators and officials for the winter seasons. Schools may choose whether or not to allow spectators. If allowed, there would be a maximum of two groups of 50, with home spectators on one side, the visitors on the other. All spectators will be required to wear masks and social distance at all times. For cheer/dance, one group of 50 spectators will be allowed in at a time and must exit when their school is finished performing. Bowling spectators will be limited to two per bowler.