IHSA Defying Governor's High School Basketball Stoppage
Former Belleville West Star E.J. Liddell, playing in 2019. He was Illinois’ top player, known as “Mr. Basketball” in 2018 and 2019.
Just a day after Governor JB Pritzker essentially put high school winter sports, like basketball “on hold,” the Illinois High School Association announced Wednesday it was moving forward with the upcoming season anyway.
The IHSA is the governing board for high school athletics in the state. It is an independent organization, not a state-run agency. After a special meeting Wednesday, the IHSA Board of Directors announced it was moving ahead with practices at the discretion of local school districts.
“The Illinois High School Association Board of Directors made the decision [Wednesday] to continue with the IHSA basketball season as scheduled in 2020-21,” the IHSA released in a statement. “In August, the Board slated basketball to take place from November to February based on the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) assigning a medium risk level to the sport. The IHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) offered additional mitigations, such as masks during play and social distancing on benches, that the SMAC believed would allow basketball to be played safely.”
Pritzker said earlier this week he thinks winter sports need to be held off as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise.
“We can’t ignore what is happening around us – because without action, this could look worse than anything we saw in the spring,” said Pritzker. “As with sports in the fall, nothing is ‘cancelled,’ just put on hold until we’re through the thick of this pandemic. We adapt as we learn. That has been our mantra throughout this pandemic, and as is true in every other facet of life, we know this virus is of most concern when people are indoors with high contact, especially in vigorous situations that bring about heavy breathing like in wrestling, hockey and basketball. Life in a pandemic is hard for everyone, and it’s hard for all of our kids, whether or not they play sports.”
UPDATE (8:57 P.M.):
Barry Bauer, Athletic Director and Girl's Basketball Coach at Watseka Community High School in central Illinois praised the IHSA's decision.
“Our coaches and athletes are very happy with the announcement today from the IHSA and are looking forward to starting practices on November 16th,” he said. “We agree with the IHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) that when conducted safely, high school basketball does not pose an increased risk for athletes. The health and safety of our athletes will always be our primary consideration. But our students need athletics more now than ever. It is such an important part of their educational and emotional progress. Teams from around the state have been conducting open gyms for the past 2 months with little or no problems. We feel there is no indication that it cannot continue.”
When asked Wednesday afternoon about his response to the IHSA’s decision, Pritzker seemingly made a veiled threat.
“We’ve told school districts what the rules are and I think they all know,” said Pritzker. “The IHSA may have their views on it but school districts know what the rules are and I think that it’s unfortunate, but they would be probably taking on legal liability if they went ahead and move beyond what the state has said is the mitigation standard.”
We’ve asked a spokesperson for the Governor to clarify his comment, but she has yet to respond to our question.