IHSA, State Health Officials Meet Though Sports Remain On Pause

BLOOMINGTON, IL — In a meeting it is calling vital, members of the Illinois High School Association met virtually with representatives from the Illinois High School Department of Health, Deputy Governor Jesse Ruiz and the Illinois Elementary School Association Thursday to discuss a possible return of interscholastic sports in Illinois. Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike and Chief of Staff Justin DeWitt represented the IDPH.

"We appreciate the dialogue with state leadership and believe it is crucial that it continue moving forward," IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said in a statement. "We understand that the state faces shifting priorities as it continues to fight the pandemic, while also beginning the distribution of the vaccine. There was no expectation that a single meeting would resolve all our questions."

In November of last year just prior to the start of the winter sports season, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the state was instituting Tier 3 mitigations to combat the rising number of coronavirus cases. The IHSA opted to follow suit by pausing the high school winter sports season.

The IHSA Board of Directors again held discussions regarding the status of winter sports at several meetings in December. The winter sports season remains on hold.

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Anderson called Thursday's collaboration "vital" in developing an "informed plan" for the more than 300,000 student-athletes and over 800 high schools that encompass the IHSA.

According to the release, IHSA and IESA leadership used the meeting to reintroduce recommended mitigations from the IHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, as well as to seek understanding on any preliminary insight IDPH may have related to the return of interscholastic sports. The IHSA also asked IDPH leadership to review the risk levels of all remaining sports, with consideration for lowering some sports from their current risk levels.

Basketball, for example, was changed from a medium risk sport to a high risk sport by Pritzker and the IDPH in October. Winter sports considered low risk for the coronavirus also saw their seasons paused under the rules, including boys swimming and diving, cheerleading, dance, boys and girls bowling and girls gymnastics. Wrestling, considered high risk like basketball, had already been moved out of the winter sports season to the spring.

"We believe that there is both data and science that validates the idea that we can safely conduct sports," Anderson said. "We have seen it work in other states and believe it can in Illinois if we utilize the mitigations provided by IDPH and the IHSA SMAC. Students are already leaving or participating out-of-state on weekends. We believe that competing for their high school remains the safest venue for participation."

Low risk sports may not begin until the state returns to Phase 4 in the All Sports Policy. The IHSA Board of Directors are scheduled to meet again on Jan. 13.

"Our Board of Directors is going to have difficult decisions to make regarding the seasons for medium- and high-risk sports very soon," Anderson said. "With no specific IDPH timeline or statistical benchmarks established for the return of sports and the calendar shrinking, putting together a puzzle that allows for all sports to be played becomes increasingly improbable. We continue to urge all residents of our state to be diligent in their efforts to adhere to safety guidelines, as a lower positivity rate remains the key to athletics returning."

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