The Illinois High School Association Board of Directors voted to defy Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker order to put the basketball season on hold but not all members are coming along for the ride.
Hoopeston Area High School is one of several schools that have opted to follow the governor’s guidance. Pritzkers' decision to move basketball from the medium-risk category to higher risk, and put the seasons start on hold, was based on the number of rising COVID-19 cases in the state, Patch reported.
In a statement posted on the Hoopeston Area school district website, superintendent Robert Richardson announced the district’s decision to follow the state’s mandate. In it, Richardson referred to the district’s concern over liability.
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“In consultation with legal counsel and liability insurance carriers, Hoopeston Area CUSD #11 will comply with the IDPH guidance and restrict basketball to Level 1 No-contact practices, and training only,” said Richardson in the statement.
Leading to the decision, Hoopeston Area High School girls varsity basketball coach, Aaron Fell, was in agreement with the association’s action.
"I think it was the right call,” said Fell, “I think Pritzker’s overstepped his boundaries. In Hoopeston we are five minutes from the Indiana border and you cross the border and every sport is playing with no outbreak.”
The IHSA had previously instituted mitigations from the IHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee that included masks during play along with social distancing on the benches. Games were set to begin Nov. 30. The decision was made with the expectation that schools would have to decide on a school-by-school basis and those in remote learning may not be able to start the season on time.
The Illinois State Board of Education State superintendent, Carmen I. Ayala, expressed alarm over the IHSA’s decision to go rogue.
"Defying the state's public health guidance opens schools up to liability and other ramifications that may negatively impact school communities," said Ayala in a letter Patch reported.
Meanwhile, Fell believes not playing is negatively impacting communities.
"I think Governor Pritzker needs to look at the livelihood of these kids,” said Fell. “It’s not fair to the seniors. It’s not fair to any high school kid or junior high kid that’s not able to play sports. But we can have protests, we can go to Walmart. We can go you know, until this week, we could go to bars. We can go to school but we can’t play sports. We’re the only state in the Midwest not playing sports. Tell me that’s not a political decision.”
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