BLOOMINGTON – The Illinois High School Association has released a timetable for high school sports for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year.
There will be no state series competition for any of the winter sports, except dance and cheer, which will be virtual competitions.
The IHSA said that practices could begin as early as today, depending on the status of each region. As of Wednesday, Region 8, in which Indian Prairie School District is headquartered, is at Tier 1 mitigations. High-risk sports like boys and girls basketball could practice, but they could not compete until the region reaches Phase 4 mitigations.
“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,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “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.”
Most sports are required to participate in seven practices before competing against other teams. Football is required to participate in 12 practice days.
The IHSA is requiring that all student-athletes wear masks when participating, “with the exception of swimming and diving, gymnasts on an apparatus and outdoor events where social distancing can occur.”
“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.”
For more information, visit ihsa.org.