After today’s announcement from Governor Pritzker in regards to the state moving to Tier 3 mitigations due to rising cases of COVID-19, the IHSA decided to pause the winter athletic season, which was set to begin practicing this week.
“The Illinois High School Association recognizes that today’s announcement by Governor Pritzker will temporarily pause the IHSA’s winter sports season,” said IHSA Director Craig Anderson. “We remain optimistic that these new mitigations, coupled with the emergence of a vaccine, will aid in creating participation opportunities in the New Year for IHSA student-athletes in winter, spring, and summer sports.”
Boys and girls bowling, girls gymnastics, boys swimming and diving, cheerleading, and competitive dance are the winter sports being put on hold. Tier 3 mitigations are set to begin on Friday, November 20th.
It is unclear when boys and girls basketball would be scheduled to resume as the IHSA had given schools the green light to begin competition beginning November 30th, while the IDPH recommended that basketball wait until spring to begin play.
There will be an IHSA board meeting on November 19th where plans for the rest of the athletic season will be discussed.
“Although representatives from the Governor’s office and the Illinois Department of Public Health will be unable to attend the meeting, today’s updated guidance from Governor Pritzker will aid the Board’s decision-making. We have asked Deputy Governor Ruiz and Dr. Ezike to engage with us in the near future, so that we can collaborate on developing a plan to safely conduct IHSA sports and activities as soon as possible,” said Anderson. “IHSA schools have been exemplary in adhering to state regulations throughout this pandemic and we hope that non-school programs will hold themselves to the same standard as we all put the long-term health and safety of our fellow citizens ahead of short-term athletic competition.”
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