Darren Kinnard
Section618.com
If and when high school sports in Illinois return to action will now be the complete decision of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), and Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Office. The IHSA announced Tuesday afternoon that it will defer to the IDPH, ISBE, and the Governor on all Return to Play Guidelines moving forward.
“There is an unprecedented level of planning for this school year due to COVID-19, and we have come to understand that there needs to be a greater consistency between the guidelines for returning to learn and returning to interscholastic athletics,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “Some of the recommendations by the IHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) and directives from IDPH have come into direct conflict with each other, especially as it relates to the use of masks by student-athletes. As a result, we feel it is important to let IDPH and ISBE provide a consistent direction for our membership moving forward. We will wait on direction from these organizations for further guidance on Return to Play plans for the 2020-21 school year.”
The IHSA released a second phase in its Return to Play guidelines developed by its Sports Medicine Advisory Committee on July 3. Those guidelines were approved by the IDPH. Last Thursday, the IHSA sent out amended guidelines that included no contact (scrimmages) and increased mask usage. These changes were made to make the IHSA’s guidelines more in line with those ISBE issued about returning to school, but these revised guidelines still haven’t received approval from the IDPH.
“We still believe there is a path to conducting high school athletics in the fall, like the majority of states surrounding Illinois plan to do,” said Anderson. “To make that happen, it’s important that we allow IDPH, ISBE and the Governor’s Office to take the lead on ensuring the safest and most consistent protocols.”
Furthering complicating the IHSA’s situation was a lawsuit filed by Thomas Devore on behalf of his two kids that attend Hillsboro High School for forcing athletes to wear masks while playing sports. The lawsuit filed in Montgomery County claims the use of masks will cause “immediate and irreparable harm” to the rights of student-athletes. The lawsuit also alleges collusion between the IHSA and state agencies. A court date is set for July 23. Devore had previously sued the Governor over his stay at home order.