Lawsuit Against IHSA
A group of student athletes and their parents have sued the Illinois High School Association in the hopes they can get back to fall sports.
Parents David Ruggles, Chris Warden, and Kelly Ridges are the three lead plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit against the IHSA. They filed the lawsuit Tuesday at DuPage County Court.
In the lawsuit, the group believes since the IHSA moved fall sports to the spring, they violated their own bylaws.
“The IHSA Board of Directors has issued a series of guidelines (Return To Play & Contact Day Guidelines) that alter the 2020-21 sports seasons mandated by the IHSA By-laws,” said the lawsuit. “The Guidelines include an outright ban on certain sports during the time periods to which the IHSA By-laws limit those sports. These amendments to the IHSA By-laws were not enacted through the legislative process the IHSA Constitution requires.”
Sports that have not been able to return are football, soccer, and volleyball.
Because of this, the group is asking the court to declare the Return to Play and Contact Day guidelines invalid and void.
According to the lawsuit, the parties being represented are student athletes who attend IHSA member high schools.
“[Their] athletic careers have been directly disrupted by the Return To Play & Contact Day Guidelines altering their sports season or banning them from playing during the sports season mandated by the IHSA By-laws altogether,” said the lawsuit.
The parents are also asking for a temporary restraining order to stop the IHSA from enforcing its Return to Play guidelines.
