The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors met on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, and announced plans for the 2020-21 school year. The plan was sent to the Illinois Department of Health (IDPH) for final approval.
The COVID-19 pandemic led the Board to propose unprecedented scheduling changes. They include playing all sports over the course of truncated fall, winter, spring, and summer seasons. Several team sports will shift to new seasons: football, boys soccer, and girls volleyball will move from the fall to spring.
Said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson, “Changes may come…; we will be agile while putting safety and students first. It was important that we provide a framework today for our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and officials to begin preparing for the 2020-21 school year.”
IHSA boys and girls golf, girls tennis, cross country and girls swimming & diving will remain as fall sports, and can proceed to start on August 10 as scheduled. Per Governor Pritzker’s announcement on Wednesday, fall sports will begin with competition limited to conference opponents and other schools in the same general geographical area. Schools will be provided more details in the coming week about the scheduling limits, and scheduling will continue to be assessed throughout each season.
The condensed 2020-21 season dates follow.
- Fall: August 10 to October 24
- Winter: November 16 to February 13
- Spring: February 15 to May 1
- Summer: May 3 to June 26.
State Series Tournament decisions will be made on a sport-by-sport basis as each season progresses, but providing postseason opportunities remains a priority of the Board. This could potentially include culminating State Series Tournaments after Regional or Sectional rounds, or seeking other non-traditional means to conduct events.
The Board also extended the current Phase 4 Return to Play Guidelines, which will allow sports slated to be played in the winter, spring, and summer seasons to allow an additional 20 days of contact for schools, between Monday, September 7, and Saturday, October 31, following IDPH Phase 4 Guidelines.
The Board verified that IHSA by-laws do not prevent schools who are conducting remote learning from participating in IHSA sports and activities. Participation will remain a local school and district decision, regardless of the learning plan a high school uses.
The Board discussed IHSA activities for the 2020-21 school year but did not take any action. The IHSA’s activity offerings include Bass Fishing, Chess, Debate, Drama and Group Interpretation, Individual Events, Journalism, Music, and Scholastic Bowl.
“We believe we can still offer many of our activities via virtual contests,” said Director Anderson. “The Board has asked our staff to investigate those possibilities, and we will report back soon on if and how each can be held.”