On Friday, September 11th the IHSA Director Craig Anderson confirmed that a letter had been sent to Governor Pritzker’s office seeking permission to return control over determining the return of high school sports and activities to the IHSA.
In a statement, Director Anderson wrote:
“With support from the IHSA Board of Directors, I issued a letter on September 10 to Governor Pritzker and Deputy Governor Ruiz, that seeks permission for the IHSA and its Sports Medicine Advisory Committee to resume control over determining the resumption of IHSA sports and activities. However, the content of that letter has been greatly misconstrued on social media in a short amount of time. There have been no discussions, let alone proposed timelines, for resuming any sports at this time. Should our office receive a positive response from government officials, it could result in the IHSA reexamining its previously released season schedules, as well as postseason schedules, for the 2020-21 school year.”
The IHSA also made it clear that they were supportive of Governor Pritzker’s decisions in regards to the health of Illinois residents and points to the lowering COVID-19 rates in Illinois as proof that high school sports can be conducted safely via IHSA protocols. Governor Pritzker announced restrictions and sports and activities in Illinois back in late July. At that time, the IHSA announced that it would be following the decisions of The Illinois Department of Health and Governor Prtizker’s office.
It is important to note that, under the leadership of Governor Pritzker, Illinois has attained one of the lowest COVID-19 infection rates in the country. Additionally, several surrounding states have successfully conducted sports categorized as medium and high risk here in Illinois, and we believe sports and activities are safest when conducted under the IHSA safety protocols by school personnel. Those combined factors led us to issue this letter, and we will respectfully await response to it.
The IHSA is not involved in any planned protests this weekend related to high school sports. If protests occur, we encourage all attendees to be safe, smart and respectful.”
If Governor Pritzker grants control back to the IHSA, it could open the door for a more robust postseason competition than the current IHSA plan.
The IHSA current 2020-21 Athletic Schedule can be found HERE.
