Pritzker Pauses Winter Sports Season Amid Coronavirus Mitigations

ILLINOIS — With Tuesday's announcement that Tier 3 mitigations will go into effect across the entire state Friday, the high school winter sports season in Illinois is temporarily on pause. The Illinois High School Association still plans to meet Thursday to discuss its next steps as practices for winter sports had begun earlier this week.

"As you saw today with the Tier 3 mitigations, we are obviously asking people not to have youth sports operating in any significant fashion, so I think that is probably moot at this point," Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday when asked about how the IHSA is expected to move forward with winter sports.

Both Pritzker's office and the Illinois Department of Public Health have turned down invitations to Thursday's meeting, according to the IHSA.

"The IHSA recognizes that today’s announcement by Gov. Pritzker will temporarily pause the IHSA's winter sports season," IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said in a statement. "We remain optimistic that these new mitigations, coupled with the emergence of a vaccine, will aid in creating participation opportunities in the New Year for IHSA student-athletes in winter, spring, and summer sports."

Entire State Moving To Tier 3: 'This Is Not A Stay-At-Home Order'

Last month, the IHSA Board of Directors voted to proceed with a high school basketball season despite Pritzker saying it was on hold due to a rising number of coronavirus cases in the state. The sport had originally been deemed medium risk for the coronavirus, but Pritzker and the IDPH changed that classification to high risk prior to the IHSA board meeting. With coronavirus cases reaching record numbers, only a handful of schools in the state indicated that they intended to play basketball prior to Tuesday's announcement on Tier 3 mitigations.

Guidelines regarding organized group recreational activities (sports, indoor sports and activity facilities, etc.) included in the Tier 3 resurgence mitigations include:

• Pause all indoor group sporting and recreational activities including youth and adult recreational sports, individual training may remain (with facility reservation)
• Includes park districts and travel leagues
• Outdoor sports and recreation allowed
• Participant groups and practices outdoors limited to 10 persons or fewer with social distancing
• Face coverings required for all activities at all times
• Locker rooms should be closed

Winter sports considered low risk for the coronavirus will also see their seasons paused under the new 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.

The IHSA said it will "continue plotting" its potential paths for IHSA sport and activity participation through the remainder of the school year.

"Although representatives from the governor's office and the Illinois Department of Public Health will be unable to attend the [Thursday] meeting, today’s updated guidance from Governor Pritzker will aid the Board's decision-making," Anderson said.

He added that the IHSA has asked Deputy Governor of Education Jesse Ruiz and Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the state health department, to collaborate on developing a plan to safely conduct IHSA sports and activities as soon as possible.

"IHSA schools have been exemplary in adhering to state regulations throughout this pandemic, and we hope that non-school programs will hold themselves to the same standard as we all put the long-term health and safety of our fellow citizens ahead of short-term athletic competition," Anderson said.

Related:
IHSA Invites Pritzker, IDPH To Talk Hoops At Next Meeting
IHSA Wins: Judge Denies Restraining Order In Fall Sports Lawsuit
Pritzker Reiterates No High School Football This Fall In Illinois