By Bobby Narang
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
That old saying certainly held true, at least in regards to the Illinois High School Association Board meeting Monday.
The IHSA did not add much clarity to an already muddled and reduced high school sports scene. The coronavirus pandemic is picking up steam throughout the Nation, causing the IHSA to not yet declare a start date for the upcoming Winter sports season.
“The Board reiterated Monday that they plan to do everything in their power to provide a season for every IHSA sport in 2020-2021,” IHSA executive director Craig Anderson said. “There have been no cancellations of any sports, or discussions about canceling any sports, thus far. The Board appreciates the patience and flexibility of the IHSA membership and remains optimistic, especially as vaccines begin to be administered, that we will return to conducting IHSA sports early in 2021.”
The IHSA did say they expect to meet with representatives of governor JB Pritzker’s office along with the Illinois Department of Public Health before the end of the year, with plans for a special board meeting to finalize schedules.
The IHSA did move badminton, which is considered a low-risk indoor sport, from the Spring season to the inter season.
“Given its status as a low-risk sport, we believe we can safely conduct badminton in the winter as soon as the current mitigations are lifted,” Anderson said. “The feedback that we have heard from our schools is that this is an optimal time to conduct badminton as they look at balancing sports and facilities throughout the remainder of the school year.”
But the fate of basketball remains up in the air, mainly due to Pritzker’s desire to have the high-risk sport start in the Spring.
“We hope to be able to conduct basketball during the Winter season,” Anderson said, “but if we cannot, basketball will be provided the same contact day opportunity as we determine where the basketball seasons fits best in the remainder of the school year.”
• Northern Illinois University football season ends, thankfully:
The 2020 Mid-American Conference football season will be remembered for many things, from the lack of preseason camp to the late start to the shortened season to not playing any non-conference games and, in the case of Northern Illinois, a winless season.
For the first time since 1997, when P.J. Fleck wore the white and black of Kaneland High School, the Huskies suffered their first winless season. Back then, coached by Joe Novak, the Huskies endured a 3-34 stretch before winning four straight games early in the 1999 season, which eventually kickstarted the program on an unprecedented run of success for nearly two decades.
Third-year Northern Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock pointed out the 0-6 season should lead to a spirited offseason.
“For us, this will be a critical offseason considering the physical nature and mental nature,” Hammock said. “I think our young men having a chance to go play six games means they should be able to make a tremendous jump from this season to next season.”