North Egypt News

The Illinois High School Association board of directors voted to continue the basketball season as scheduled, despite Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s decision to move the sport to the “high risk” category.

“The Board remains considerate of rising COVID-19 cases in Illinois and understand the importance of adhering to safety guidelines for the good of all citizens,” the organization said in a statement. 

“However, the Board has not been presented any causal evidence that rising COVID-19 cases make basketball more dangerous to play,” the announcement stated. 

The board voted in August to schedule basketball from Nov. to Feb., based on the Illinois Department of Public Heath’s classification of the sport as "medium risk".

“Mounting challenges, from increased mental health issues among our students to a shrinking calendar that limits our ability to move sport seasons this school year, were instrumental in this decision to move forward with basketball as scheduled,” said the IHSA .

The high school association’s sports medicine advisory committee suggested ways to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 such as wearing masks during play and social distancing on benches.

State bordering Illinois that sponsored both medium risk and high risk sports in the fall “have noted a low incident rate of COVID-19 spread,” said IHSA in the statement.

According to Patch.com, Pritzker responded to the IHSA's decision by saying it's better to be safe than sorry.

“We're listening to is the guidance from national orgs, physicians that treat kids, the experts in sports medicine," the governor said. 

"What I would suggest is that if there's a difference of opinion, I prefer to err on the side of health and safety. And I think that's where we have intended for all of our guidance to fall," said Pritzker.

Tracy Steed, coach of the Frankfort Community High School Girls’ Varsity basketball team, agrees with the IHSA decision to maintain the schedule.

“I feel the IHSA did the right thing by taking the stand they took for Illinois high school student athletes,” she told the North Egypt News. 

“My players have done everything asked. They’ve worn masks in hot gyms, had temps taken, wiped down balls, as well as tried to social distance,” said Steed.

The players were disappointed when the state raised the classification to high risk, explained Steed.

“They can never get high school back, and they just want to play even though they really don’t want to wear masks or play in empty gyms,” she said. “They just want to play.”