By Bobby Narang
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) dropped another headline in mid-September.
With high school football, girls volleyball, and boys soccer, three major sports, all sitting out this Fall because of the coronavirus pandemic, the IHSA continues to draw headlines nearly every week with updates and news.
The IHSA announced Sunday, Sept. 13 it waived the two-game limit per week for Winter, Spring, and Summer sports.
In addition, the IHSA denied the exemption that would let athletes play high school and club sports at the same time. That decision will have huge ramifications for some athletes who prefer to seek club play over high school or vice versa.
The two-game-a-week rule made it difficult for Fall sports coaches to schedule events, plus limited the opportunities for athletes to improve themselves for future competitions and attracting recruiting attention for college sports.
IHSA executive director Craig Anderson said it was a move in the right direction considering how the state schools have handled the pandemic in an orderly fashion that helped limit the spread of COVID-19.
“We have preached that this school year will be fluid, and the changes made by the Board are a good example of that,” Anderson said in an IHSA press release. “When the IHSA’s initial guidelines were established, the limitation of two contests per week felt like a constraint that would help limit exposure.
“However, given how well our State is handling the pandemic and the lack of setbacks in the Fall sports we have conducted so far, there was a consensus that we could move forward with allowing schools to schedule Winter, Spring and Summer sports without further restrictions.”
Anderson said the IHSA Board looked over the request for an exemption from the IHSA bylaw during soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, and lacrosse seasons that does not allow athletes to play high school, or club, sports at the same time. In the end, the IHSA Board elected not to allow the exemption.
“There was a lengthy and spirited discussion if we should provide an exemption to this rule given the unprecedented nature of the school year,” Anderson said. “The Board understands both sides of the argument and has heard from passionate advocates for each scenario. Ultimately, concerns over safety and equity left them uncomfortable with providing an exemption to this rule.”
Anderson admitted the Board realizes their decision will cause tough choices for some student-athletes.
“They understand it could lead to some difficult decisions between participating on a school or non-school team,” he said. “Fundamentally, the nature and mission of the IHSA is to provide participation opportunities to all students. The Board agreed if a student-athlete chooses to leave a school team for a non-school team, it simply creates an opportunity for another student to step in and fill that role.”
In other IHSA news, many high school coaches across several sports are holding Let Us Play rallies across the State, including last weekend in near Chicago southwest suburban McCook, a part of the Lyons Township School District, in hopes of having a State finals in some capacity, or restarting football just like a few other states have elected to do in recent weeks.