IHSA approves basketball start, moves wrestling to summer
MACOMB – In a surprising move the Illinois High School Association announced on Wednesday it would approve the start of the high school basketball season at its pre-planned date, going against the advice and wishes of the Illinois Department of Public Health and governor J.B. Pritzker.
On Tuesday, the IDPH and governor announced that basketball would be reclassified as a high-risk sport, moving up from a medium-risk sport and putting basketball in a holding pattern.
On Wednesday, the IHSA announced it would proceed as planned, allowing member schools to make the determination on whether to start practice November 16 and begin games on November 30.
“Things evolved very quickly in the last 24, 48 hours with the governor’s announcement (Tuesday) and the (IHSA) board’s action today,” IHSA executive director Craig Anderson said. “The board was caught off guard by the movement of basketball from medium to high risk, we really misunderstood that action and at the end of the day, the board reviewed the Sports Medical Advisory Committee’s recommendations and motivation they have for our schools to participate in basketball and felt we could do so safely.”
In a press conference earlier on Wednesday, Governor Pritzker was notified of the IHSA’s decision.
“"What I would suggest is if there is a difference of opinion I prefer to fall on the side of health and safety,” the governor said.
The IDPH, governor and IHSA have not been on the same page throughout the season and Wednesday was another example.
“I think most everyone recognized throughout the fall we were trying to be good partners with the IDPH and governor’s office and at this point, without basketball in the winter, we had a big hole in our winter season with limited activities for kids,” Anderson said. “In terms of safety, guidelines have been put together buy the committee that lend themselves to make it safe for students.
“We also plan to build off safety guidelines from other states and the National Federation of High Schools. I think the board reached a point where we wanted to give it a try for the students, that’s how this came about.”
While the IHSA is giving schools the green light to play basketball this winter, Anderson did say the association is asking schools to follow safety guidelines and recommendations, requiring players, coaches and officials to wear masks and practice social distancing.
Anderson also mentioned that at a later meeting the IHSA would discuss capping attendance at games at 50 people, including players, officials, coaches, scorekeepers and trainers.
“Guidelines for winter sports, we will post to our website but as they are specifically related to basketball, part of the recommendations the board did approve is that everyone indoors must wear a mask, including players,” he said. “There are some other recommendations approved, there will be a media timeout, like the state finals, we’ll institute that in the regular season, in the middle of each quarter to allow a break to players to go to the sideline, socially distance and catch their breath, same for officials working the contest.
“We’ll limit it to 50, including players, coaches, trainers, bench help, officials, it’s quick getting to that 50 number in the sport of basketball before spectators are in, so spectators are something the board will revisit again in November. The guidelines will have the same limitations, everyone wearing a mask because we can’t anticipate how a season will play out.”
Also on Wednesday, the IHSA announced it would move the start of wrestling season from the winter to its summer session, beginning in April.
Anderson said the IHSA made the move at the recommendation of wrestling coaches and officials
“The board received a report back in September from the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA) recommending the sport be moved to the summer,” Anderson said. “The sheer feature is, we recognize the higher risk associated with the sport, there’s consistently a higher risk.
“The argument, I’m sure is, ‘we moved a higher risk sport like wrestling, why not basketball,’ but we hope to be in a safer position to have wrestling in the summer, it was the recommendation of the coaches and officials instead of conducting wrestling in the winter.”