(The Center Square) –
Friday night lights in Illinois have been dimmed, but the new state
restrictions for sports aren't limited to high school football, which will be
moved to the spring.
Fearing a spread of
COVID-19, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday released guidelines for youth and
recreational fall sports, which essentially cancels the upcoming high school
football season. The guidelines don't apply to professional or collegiate
sports.
The governor said each
sport will be categorized under three risk levels – high, medium and low –
determined by the amount of contact between athletes and their proximity during
play. Football has been classified as a high-risk sport, so no-contact
practices and training are allowed, but not games. Other high-risk sports
include wrestling, hockey and competitive cheer.
“I know our hearts
break when we hear the word “restrictions”, especially when it comes to our
children’s love for their sports,” Pritzker said. “Whether this year is their
first time on the court or it is their senior year season, this isn’t news that
anyone wants to hear.”
Basketball, soccer and
volleyball were labeled medium risk sports. Scrimmages are allowed, but
competitive games are not. Lower-risk sports include baseball, softball,
tennis, golf and cross country. Those sports will be allowed to compete.
The Illinois High
School Association, which governs high school sports, announced Wednesday that
three higher-risk sports – football, girls volleyball and boys soccer – will be
moved to the spring and will begin Feb. 15. Sports that typically occur during
the winter season will remain the same.
Barry Reilly,
superintendent of schools for District 87 in Bloomington, said considering the
guidelines for students in school, allowing close contact sports is not
feasible.
“We are not allowing
kids in school without face coverings and we are making them social distance,
it doesn't make a whole lot of sense having close contact sports going on,”
Reilly said.
Similar to other
guidance, the Illinois Department of Public Health said sports organizations
should make temperature checks available and participants and coaches should
monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 and should not participate if they are
experiencing illness. Sports organizers or coaches also must maintain
attendance logs of participants for contact tracing purposes.
“Extracurricular
activities and sports are an important part to a well-rounded education,” State
Superintendent of Education Dr. Carmen Ayala said. “This guidance is not meant
to be a one-size-fits-all approach and takes into account the inherent risk
level of each individual sports and current health conditions.”
The governor's
announcement was met with criticism from some Republican lawmakers.
“From Day One of his
executive orders, the Governor has said he relies solely upon science to make
his decisions,” state Rep. Tim Butler said in a statement. “Well, where is his
science on these decisions today? Why are sports like lacrosse or ultimate
frisbee a higher risk level than basketball and soccer? What is the science on
four different levels of play? Yet again, the Governor seems to be making these
decisions completely on his own, and certainly with no input from any other
elected official.”
The guidance takes
effect on Aug. 15.
The Illinois
Department of Public Health reported 1,393 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in
Illinois on Wednesday, including 18 additional deaths.
Statewide, the
department has reported a total of 175,124 cases, including 7,462 deaths. In
the past 24 hours, laboratories in Illinois reported 38,187 specimens for
testing, bring the statewide total to 2,608,652. The preliminary seven-day
statewide positivity rate from July 22 to July 28 is 3.8%.
As of Tuesday night,
1,491 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of
those, 355 were in the ICU and 152 were on ventilators, according to the
department.