IHSA will announce winter sports decision on Jan 27

Ella Saputra | Conant Crier

The IHSA will release an announcement on Jan 27 regarding the decision on winter sports.

On Jan 13, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) met to discuss the possibility of a winter sports season.

During that meeting, it was determined that the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) will allow for contact days and for certain sports to have some sort of “season.” These “contact days” are informal and not required for athletic programs, but they are an option for those who would like to attend.

The Board reviewed options and schedules for potential sports seasons and those will be further discussed at their next meeting on Jan 27.

If the state allows, low-risk sports will be a possibility. Those sports include boys and girls bowling, cheerleading, girls gymnastics, and boys swimming and diving. They will be able to start immediately after authorization from the state and will continue until a season schedule is determined this Wednesday.

Many of these decisions correlate with the current tier mitigations for the state of Illinois. For instance, on Jan 15, Governor JB Pritzker announced that three regions are being moved to Tier 1 and Tier 2 regulations, which allows for certain sports to begin. In Tier 2 regions low- risk sports, such as those mentioned above, can begin practicing and follow a schedule soon to be posted by IHSA.

Medium-risk winter sports and high-risk sports, such as boys and girls basketball, can begin practicing with no physical contact. In Tier 1 regions, high-risk sports can begin scrimmages within their own teams. As of Jan 23, Cook County has entered Tier 1, so all sports should be able to begin with some form of a season, with the permission of the state.

If you are a coach or student athlete that would like to share your opinion on this year’s sports seasons, please reach out to our sports section editors Morgan James ([email protected]) and Dana Khatib ([email protected]).

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