IHSA News & Announcements Archive
IHSA Board Announces Sports Schedule For Remainder Of 2020-21
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 [January 28, 2021]
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
The IHSA Board of Directors met for a special board meeting on January
27, 2021, where the Board provided an updated sports schedule and other
guidance for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.
“We understood the high level of anticipation surrounding today’s
announcement, along with the scrutiny that will accompany it,” said IHSA
Executive Director Craig Anderson. “Ultimately, the Board adhered to its
stated goals throughout the pandemic: providing an opportunity for every
IHSA student-athlete to compete safely this year and maximizing
opportunities for traditional IHSA spring sports after they lost their
entire season a year ago. I recognize that many schools and coaches
could likely offer a tweak here or there that would have, in their
opinion, made it ‘better’ for their school or sport. Our Board faced an
impossible task with a litany of factors. They were conscientious in
considering every possibility and I believe their decisions today are a
positive step for the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of our
students. We are excited to channel our energy into creating as many
positive experiences for Illinois high school students as we can between
now and the end of this extraordinary school year.”
The Board is considering State Series competition for
traditional IHSA spring sports only. Dance and cheerleading will be
allowed to conduct virtual Sectional and State Final meets, as they will
record their performances and submit them to be judged.
“The Board wants to do everything in their power to prevent spring
sports from going two consecutive years with no postseason IHSA play,”
said Anderson. “There are obviously no guarantees, as risk levels by
sport and local region mitigation statuses will factor significantly.
Postseason could mean being limited to a Regional or Sectional level of
competition, but we have not ruled out the idea of playing a full state
tournament in these traditional spring sports if possible. The
overwhelming feedback we have heard from athletic directors and coaches
was that returning to play in all sports should be the main goal.”
With the exception of football, which requires individuals to
participate in practice on 12 different days, all sports will be
required to hold practice on seven different days prior to holding a
contest. Holding multiple practices on a date does not impact that
timeline. If student-athletes transition from basketball or boys
swimming & diving into football, they will need to participate in
practice on 10 different days prior to their first contest. Winter sport
contests could begin as early as today, dependent on when a school’s
Region reached the appropriate mitigation status and when they began
practices.
The IHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) issued a statement
reminding all student-athletes, coaches, and schools on the importance
of acclimatization:
"The IHSA SMAC reminds member schools that student-athletes may need
additional conditioning in order to participate in a full schedule this
season. In addition to season/practice requirements, care needs to be
given to each student's individual acclimation as they return to play.
When building schedules, attention needs to be given to academic
pressure, changes from in-person to remote learning, changes between
tiers of mitigation, time spent traveling to events, appropriate time to
practice/learn the sport between games, etc. to ensure the student
experience truly enhances the academic day."
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IHSA guidelines require all student-athletes to participate in masks
(with the exception of swimming & diving, gymnasts on an apparatus
and outdoor events where social distancing can occur) and for all
game personnel not participating in the contest to also wear masks
and adhere to social distancing.
“We still have regions of the state that need to make strides in
order be able to play basketball this winter,” said Anderson. “That
underscores the importance of our schools following all the
mitigations and precautions. We need to maintain a positive
trajectory not only to get winter sports going, but to make sure we
do not have any regions regress before spring and summer sports have
their opportunity. We can all do our part by wearing a mask and
socially distancing.”
The Board also agreed to consider other participation opportunities
for a given sport, like basketball, if the sport is unable to be
played in a specific region.
“We have said from day one that if and when we were allowed to play
again this year, the situation would be fluid,” said Anderson. “We
don’t feel great about the notion of some schools falling behind
based on their Region’s status, but also recognize that we are
running out of time and can’t afford to hold back the Regions that
can play.”
In October, the Board ruled that students who play sports (football,
boys soccer, girls volleyball) that were displaced from their
traditional season could participate on high school and non-school
teams simultaneously. The Board affirmed this position in
Wednesday’s meeting with additional sports moving out of their
traditional seasons, and also ruled that girls and boys basketball
players will need to cease non-school team participation within
seven days of their first high school game.
All sports that are out-of-season can conduct contact days through
June 4. Contact days are limited to three days per week per sport
with a maximum of six hours of contact per week with no
interscholastic competition.
The IHSA Board of Directors issued the following statement on the
day’s events:
“Unprecedented circumstances create extraordinary decisions. The
IHSA Board of Directors faced one of the most difficult decisions in
the Association’s 100-plus year history today. Please know that we
did so with great diligence, empathy, and understanding. There were
an immense number of factors that went into today’s decisions. We
knew there would be obstacles no matter what we decided. Whether
those hurdles included overlapping seasons for multi-sport athletes,
equity between sports, preseason acclimatization guidelines, the
prioritization of spring sports, facility conflicts for schools,
officiating, and that is just naming a few. Please know that each
potential roadblock was recognized and given consideration. The IHSA
membership, like our state, is incredibly large and diverse. Each
Board member brought different concerns to the table that impacted
their own school or region differently. There was never going to be
a one-size fits all solution to playing 25 sports seasons in a
little over four months. What did occur was collaboration and
camaraderie. Each Board member may not have been able to have all of
their specific concerns addressed, but we worked together to produce
a schedule and plan that we believe will work for our
student-athletes.”
[https://www.ihsa.org/News-Media/Announcements/ihsa-board-announces-sports-schedule-for-remainder-of-2020-21] |
