Winter Sports Put On Hold, Not Canceled, Amid Pandemic: Pritzker

ILLINOIS — With the Illinois High School Association set to meet Wednesday to discuss the status of winter sports in Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health announced updates to existing winter safety guidelines for recreational sports. Among the changes, basketball was moved from a "medium risk" sport for the coronavirus to the "higher risk" category amid a second wave of the pandemic spreading throughout the state.

With basketball practices scheduled to start Nov. 16, the change now alters the timetable of when the season will start.

"We can’t ignore what is happening around us — because without action, this could look worse than anything we saw in the spring," Pritzker said Tuesday. "It's with that in mind that today, my administration is releasing our updated guidance for youth and adult recreational sports in Illinois ahead of the winter season. As with sports in the fall, nothing is 'cancelled,' just put on hold until we're through the thick of this pandemic. "

For the current fall sports season, the IHSA opted to move football, boys soccer and girls volleyball to the spring 2021 season following guidelines from Pritzker and the IHSA.

Craig Anderson, executive director of the IHSA, said his organization was alerted to the change for basketball about 15 minutes prior to Pritzker's press conference Tuesday.

"We remain considerate of the recent rise in positive COVID-19 cases in our state," Anderson said in a statement. "However, in our meeting with IDPH on Friday, we felt that we presented multiple options that would allow for basketball to be conducted safely by IHSA schools this winter, many of which are being utilized in neighboring states who plan to play high school basketball."

In addition to basketball, other IHSA sports played in the winter include wrestling — considered higher risk — and lower-risk sports such as boys swimming and diving, cheerleading, dance, bowling and girls gymnastics. Ice hockey remains in the higher-risk category, but it is not an IHSA-sponsored sport.

Pritzker Places Restrictions On Youth Sports, IHSA Responds

The youth sports guidance, according to the IHSA, puts sports into three risk levels, lower, medium or higher, based on the amount of contact between athletes and their proximity during play. The guidance sets four levels of play allowed based on current public health conditions. In all levels, some form of play is allowed ranging from practice and trainings in level 1 to tournaments and conference play in level 4.

• In level 1, only no-contact practices and training are allowed.

• In level 2, intra-team scrimmages are allowed with parental consent for minors, but there can be no competitive play.

• In level 3, intra-conference, intra-EMS-region or intra-league play is allowed, and there may be state- or league-championship games allowed for low-risk sports only.

• In level 4, tournaments, out-of-conference/league play, and out-of-state play are allowed. Championship games would also be allowed in level 4.

Based on current conditions, lower-risk sports can be played at levels 1, 2, and 3. Medium-risk sports can be played at levels 1 and 2, and higher-risk sports can be played at level 1.

"The science, as we know it right now, applies in all situations," IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said. "The more people you are in contact with, the longer you are together, and the closer you are together, the greater your risk of getting COVID-19. Being face to face with another person for a basketball or football game puts players at higher risk of getting and spreading the virus. Right now, cases across Illinois and the country are increasing."

Anderson said the IHSA and its board of directors still plan to meet Wednesday to discuss the sports schedule and the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.

"Despite that setback [basketball], there is some positive news, as IDPH accepted the IHSA’s mitigations related to other sports, including cheerleading and dance, allowing them to move from a medium-risk level to a low-risk level," Anderson said.

Illinois first issued guidelines for youth and recreational sports in late May when every region in the state advanced to Phase 3 of the Restore Illinois plan, marked by return to work, the reopening of retail as well as the return of specific recreational activities. The latest guidelines make adjustments to temporarily halt competitive play for most medium- to high-risk sports pending further health progress, as well as to provide additional clarity on capacity limits and high school sports.

A full list of the winter safety guidelines can be found on the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity website.

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This article originally appeared on the Across Illinois Patch