Darren Kinnard
Section618.com
BLOOMINGTON — With a majority of its schools either choosing not to start basketball next week or unsure if they will start, the IHSA has invited representatives from Governor Pritzker’s office and the Illinois Department of Public Health, along with representatives from several other education associations to next Thursday’s scheduled board meeting.
“The Board hopes to create a dialogue and build a more collaborative relationship with all the entities involved with developing sports policy in our state as everyone tries to navigate the myriad issues caused by the pandemic,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “The Board’s decision to move forward with the IHSA basketball season was not meant to be adversarial. It was rooted in a desire to receive more direct communication and data from our state partners. They hope all the groups will see the mutual benefit of increased discourse and be represented at the meeting on November 19.”
Back on October 27, Governor Pritzker and the IDPH announced further restrictions on youth sports, including re-classifying basketball as a “Higher Risk” sport, meaning not only no games, but no contact practices. The next day the IHSA announced it was going forward with basketball as scheduled–practices would start November 16 with games to start November 30. Of course the decision whether or not to ignore the Governor and IDPH’s guidance would ultimately be left to each individual school district.
The IHSA sent out a survey to its 813 member schools. It received 546 responses. Nearly 300 of those responses said their schools would not be starting basketball November 16, with another 212 saying they were unsure. That leaves somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 schools that responded to the survey who intend to play as scheduled. The biggest hurdle for schools is the potential liability involved of going against state guidelines, which creates issues with schools and their insurance carriers.
“The Board recognizes the difficult decisions they have placed on member schools regarding basketball,” said Anderson. “With a limited number of schools set to begin their season on November 16, they believe it is prudent to adhere to IDPH guidance as they work with state officials to gain greater clarity on the metrics and mitigations required to conduct certain high school sports throughout the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.”
All this comes against the backdrop of rising numbers of confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19. The IHSA did advise those schools who plan to start practice Monday to adhere to the Level 1 mitigations (no contact practices) from the IDPH All Sports Policy until at least November 19. The Board plans to provide more direction on basketball practice and games following its meeting that day.