Contact Days Can Begin Sunday For High School Athletes: IHSA

BLOOMINGTON, IL — High school sports in Illinois are back. The Illinois High School Association announced Friday that member schools are permitted to begin use of voluntary summer contact days starting Sunday, the next move in a phased strategy devised to ensure athletes can return to competition safely for the upcoming fall season.

The IHSA is encouraging school districts to work with their local health departments on current restrictions in their area prior to beginning contact. Local school administration determines the permitted activities at their school.

"Prioritizing the health and safety of all students and staff must remain the focus of each IHSA member school," the IHSA said in a statement.

50 Players, Limited Spectators Allowed In IHSA Stage 2

The IHSA is implementing its Phase 4 Return to Play guidelines, developed by the organization's sports medicine advisory committee, following approval from the Illinois Department of Public Health. The IHSA also announced that it will no longer reference the guidelines as the Stage 2 Return To Play Guidelines, as it had previously. This change will match up verbiage used by the state in its Restore Illinois Plan, according to the IHSA.

The guidelines include COVID-19 safety provisions such as:

• Coaches/volunteers must wear a mask.
• Officials must wear a mask except when actively exercising as part of their officiating duties and use an electronic whistle.
• Mouth whistles and blow horns are not allowed for safety.
• Officials are encouraged to be masked whenever feasible to decrease risk of transmission.
• Participants should be encouraged to wear a mask if feasible for the sport.

"Safety remains at the forefront of everything that the IHSA is doing as we move into Phase 4 and beyond," said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson in the press release. "We appreciate the collaborative efforts of the SMAC and IDPH in recognizing the physical, mental, and emotional benefits for our student-athletes and coaches as they progress into training in a more traditional practice setting."

The Phase 4 Guidelines optimize safety while allowing IHSA teams to gather in groups of 50 coaches and students or less to conduct practices or contests, according to the IHSA. IHSA coaches can conduct team activities on 20 contact days between June 30 and Aug. 9.

An IHSA member high school may not conduct team activities under the Phase 4 Return to Play Guidelines unless they have local school district approval, and are located in a health region that is currently in Phase 4 (or better) under the Restore Illinois plan.

In addition, fans do not traditionally attend contests conducted under the summer contact day format, however, if a host school allows fans to attend, they will be limited to 20 percent capacity of their facility or less, based on the policy of the host school.

IHSA Reveals Guidelines For High School Athletes Resuming Play

During the use of summer contact days, multiple groups of 50 or fewer participants are permitted in an outdoor facility at once as long as:

• The outdoor facilities allow for social distancing of students, coaches, and spectators
• 30 feet of distancing is maintained between groups/opposing teams on the sidelines
• Areas for each group are clearly marked to discourage interaction between groups outside of competitive game play.

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