Fall High School Sports Delayed In South Suburban Conference

While high school football has been pushed up to February, the Illinois High School Association has announced a modified fall sports schedule for the 2020-21 school year.

The IHSA will allow golf, girls’ tennis, cross-country, and girls’ swimming and diving to begin Aug. 10, however, the South Suburban Red Conference decided to delay the start of the season to allow member high schools time to review Illinois Department of Public Health safety protocols. The schools will plan for how to implement guidelines for each sport.

Richards athletic director Brian Wujcik told Daily Southtown that SSC coaches in the scheduled fall sports were to turn in documentation on how they plan to adhere to the IDPH guidelines last week.

“What they really want from us is to see a comprehensive and concrete plan for each sport,” Wujcik said. “In a situation like this, things are going to come up that we have never even considered. But we want to look at this thing from as many angles as possible.

The red conference includes Eisenhower, Reavis, Evergreen Park, Oak Lawn Community, Richards, Shepard and Argo high schools. Pending final approval of a logistical plan to safely engage students in athletic competition, the conference will allow practices to start on August 17 at the earliest.