Jerry Lindsey submitted this article.
On Wednesday, July 29, 2020, the following statement was sent by the IHSA Board of Directors to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH.) “This plan, like nearly every aspect of our current lives, remains fluid,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “Changes may come, and if they do, 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.”
Since that attempt to define direction was extended, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to dominate the attention of the Illinois schools. Athletes have remained patient, as winter sports are moved to spring and summer, and the risk factors increased without any certainty of a season being offered.
On Wednesday, October 28, the IHSA Board of Directors held a Special Board Meeting and emerged with a decision to move the Wrestling season to run from April 19, to June 26, 2021. “Low risk” sports (Boys Swimming and Diving, Cheerleading, Dance, Boys and Girls Bowling, and Girls Gymnastics) would be conducted from November 16, 2020, to February 13, 2021.
The Board also decided to follow the guidance of the Illinois Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC), to allow Boys and Girls Basketball to begin practice on November 16, 2020, with games beginning on November 30. The mitigation plan will only allow competition within the Illinois COVID Region or within the Conference.
With respect to Morrison High School, the plan would only allow competition in COVID Region 1 or within the Three Rivers Athletic Conference (TRAC), with a maximum of 31 games.
Recognizing the fact that Governor Pritzker raised the risk factor of Basketball from “medium” to “high,” the Board made the decision to follow the guidelines of the SMAC. Defending their action with a statement, “…the Board has not been presented any causal evidence, that raising COVID-19 cases make Basketball more dangerous to play, by the IDPH or any other health organization Nationally or Internationally. On the contrary, the IHSA has been looking to bordering states that have sponsored both “medium” and “high risk” sports in the fall, that have noted a low incident rate of COVID-19 spread.”
The decision to participate in Basketball will become a local school decision to allow competition under the guidelines developed by SMAC.
The Board added the issues of the limited flexibility of moving seasons, due to the shrinking calendar and the mental health of the athletes, are major considerations in establishing a competitive season. Closing with the statement, “…the Board remains steadfast that playing under IHSA rules and SMAC mitigation is the safest way to conduct athletics at this juncture.”
Details related to crowds, game rule adjustments, social distancing, and COVID-19 restrictions have not been confirmed. However, a Basketball season of some definition will take place, and the youth will have another chapter to write in their book of life experiences.