By Jason Maholy
Sports Editor
High school athletics in Illinois are set to return this fall, with modifications to the sports calendar and notice from the IHSA’s executive director that the matter as it relates to COVID-19 remains uncertain moving forward.
The IHSA on July 29 announced its plan for the 2020-21 high school athletics schedule, which features four official seasons, condensed schedules and shuffling some sports out of season. Several sports that usually compete in spring will play a summer schedule that will conclude a week before Independence Day.
Fall sports competitions will be limited to those between conference opponents and teams in the “same general geographic location,” in line with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s announcement on July 29.
IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said he expects the Illinois Department of Health to approve the plan, but cautioned that all matters of high school sports remain fluid.
“Changes may come, and if they do, we will be agile while putting safety and students first,” Anderson said. “It was important that we provide a framework today for our student-athletes, coaches, administrators and officials to begin preparing for the 2020-21 school year.”
Boys and girls golf, boys and girls cross country, girls tennis, and girls swimming and diving will proceed in the fall, as they normally do. The other fall sports — football, girls volleyball and boys soccer — will move to spring. The IDPH has classified football as “higher risk” and girls volleyball and boys soccer as “medium risk.” The other fall sports are “lower risk.”
Practices can officially begin Aug. 10 and the fall season will conclude Oct. 24, roughly one month sooner than it typically ends.
The winter sports will be unchanged, with boys and girls basketball, boys and girls bowling, wrestling, girls gymnastics, cheer and dance in session from Nov. 16 to Feb. 13.
Spring will go from Feb. 15 to May 1 and will feature the three fall sports along with boys and girls water polo, badminton and boys gymnastics.
Baseball, softball, boys and girls track and field, boys and girls lacrosse, girls soccer, boys volleyball and boys tennis will play on a summer schedule from May 3 to June 26.
The plan provides at least a template for getting high school athletics going again amid a pandemic that has shut them down since March.
Sandburg girls cross country coach Tony Pena said his team is excited about getting the IHSA’s go-ahead. He and his coaching staff had “very blunt conversations” with their runners about the possibility the season could be moved to spring or canceled, he added.
“The girls understood that fall sports were in a very precarious situation,” Pena said. “The IHSA scheduled their decision to be made the afternoon before our final day of camp; a number of girls had planned to wear black the last day of camp for a symbolic funeral to our season. Now that we have the green light to start we will stay optimistic that we can complete the season in its entirety.”
Pena said felt a sense of relief for his seniors.
“We have a great group of seniors that have spent the previous three years establishing a team culture of consistency, hard work and relationships,” he said. “The seniors deserve this opportunity.”
Among the most notable changes is that football — a harbinger of autumn and a sport that progresses parallel to the season’s passage into winter — will be played as leaves are sprouting on trees. Moving fall sports to spring will necessitate that coaches and players adjust to some degree to accommodate and acclimate to the change, but bumping those sports forward two seasons is better than the alternative.
“Everyone was concerned about whether or not there would be a season, but at the end of the day, it’s more about the safety and well-being of everyone involved,” said Stagg football coach Colt Nero. “Spring has to be the best alternative right now because it’s the safest option given the uncertainty of COVID.
“It won’t necessarily change our approach as our players have already changed their mindset to the spring and are motivated. We will continue to work on the mental side of football and work on getting our guys back into the weight room to build their bodies up in preparation for the spring.”
Nero said his players expressed some disappointment about football moving to spring, but that they’ve moved forward and are excited about eventually playing.
“They are itching to get back into the weight room to get their bodies ready for the spring season,” he said. “
Chicago Christian football coach Nick Cook said he expected the season to be delayed.
“The spring plan that the IHSA came up with, I do feel was as close to a best-case scenario for football considering all factors,” Cook said. “Hopefully, our governor has out-smarted the majority of those around us who have a different interpretation of the science available; only time will tell. No matter how the fall experiment turns out, I’m confident our kids will respond with the same resilience they have shown all along as we get ready for the spring season.”
Brother Rice football coach Brian Badke said his team will use the additional time they’ll have to prepare for a spring season to their advantage.
“The players have worked so hard and they are frustrated like all of us to not be able to play right now.” He said. “This past year has been unprecedented, still a lot of unknowns; but control what you can control and take this an opportunity to get better and to be around each during the offseason could be a special time for all of us to improve and get better as team.”
Coaches react
The following is more of what some of our area coaches had to say about the IHSA’s decision and how it could affect their programs and high school athletes.
Nick Cook, Chicago Christian football
On his players’ responses to the news:
“The response has been phenomenal. They, and all of us are obviously disappointed that the fall and football will not go together for the first time in any of our lifetimes; but we build our program on principles like those found in Philippians 4:12-13 in the Bible, and our kids have displayed that type of mature, contentment in responding to all COVID adversity with resilience, goals and an overall great attitude.”
On the possibility of players choosing not to play in spring:
“We don’t believe this will be a big issue for us. Too much investment from returning players, too many goals. Our seniors our hungry to play together one last time, and I don’t anticipate many of our young guys turn lazy on us and choosing to just walk the halls in the spring as there won’t be much else for them to do athletically at our school unless they were making a sport changes.”
Tony Pena, Sandburg girls cross country
On whether the COVID-19 safety measures affected runners’ preparation for the season:
“As the March quarantine continued into April it became apparent that we would not see the completion of the track season, and it was quite likely there would be no summer cross country camp. The girls knew the onus would be on them to get work done without the supervision of coaches and without the benefits of a team. Our girls were amazing at getting their work done away from coaches and on their own… it was apparent that first week of (summer) camp (beginning July 10) that the girls had put in the necessary work on their own.”
On whether the Eagles’ runners are behind where they would normally be at this point:
“Absolutely not. In fact, in the oddest of summers this will be the most fit we have ever entered a season. This is my fourth summer with the team and it is by far the best summer of training and commitment we have had.”
On whether he foresees this season being different than it would under normal circumstances:
“Absolutely. Totally different schedule, smaller meets, masks, social distancing, possibly no state series, 75% of students at home all day, and I’m sure there are many that I am missing including the possibility of one of our athletes being diagnosed with COVID-19 or someone within their family or within their social bubble or a classmate. A cloud of uncertainty will likely hang over us all season. Things will definitely be different, but I am confident it will still be an enjoyable and rewarding experience for all of our girls.”
Ron Dawczak, Marist football
On his reaction to the news:
“I was thrilled with the decision made by the IHSA. I want to play football as much as any coach in the state, but only under conditions that don’t jeopardize the health and safety of our players and their families at home. If the decision was made to try to play a normal fall schedule, I believe we would have had to suspend play within a few weeks.
“I was definitely afraid football season could be canceled. I was worried the season might be delayed a month. I think that would have been equivalent to cancelling the season.
On the challenges of preparing players for a spring season:
“Having football in the spring will bring a unique set of challenges in terms of how to best prepare the team. Normally, summer football ends in late July and the kids get around two weeks off to rest their bodies before the season begins. Considering every coach in the state is going through this for the first time, no one knows exactly how to best prepare their team for the new schedule. It will be fun trying to figure out how to navigate the new schedule trying to get the team ready for football in February.”
“Probably the biggest downside to playing in the spring is the delay in exposure for the seniors who will be looking to play football in college. These players were unable to showcase their skills and make a name for themselves at college camps over the summer. My hope is that the NCAA moves signing day back a few months to allow for college coaches to scout players who will be playing in the spring. There are a lot of other states besides Illinois that have moved football to the spring, so I hope the NCAA adjusts their policies accordingly.”
Tony Sheehan, Richards football
On his reaction to the news:
We all know this is a different time. With that being said, I am happy the IHSA came up with an alternative plan then just canceling the season. No plan would be perfect ,and as teachers and coaches we are always talking about and teaching how to deal with adversity. This is just another chance to teach our kids nothing is perfect in this world. We need to adapt, accept and enhance how we handle situations.”
On the challenges of preparing players for a spring season:
“It is going to be different. We hope to be able to get some contact days after Labor Day and to be able to get in the weight room once the kids are back in school. There is always a chance that things can change and go fully remote; if so this will be a challenge. We will be back to expecting the kids to work out on their own.”
On whether moving football to spring could be detrimental to his players’ recruitment chances:
“This could hurt some, yes. But, I hope coaches understand and will be able to evaluate our seniors. We will have to see if the NCAA changes any of their calendar. This could help everyone out.”
Brian Badke, Brother Rice football
On his players’ responses to the news:
“Obviously, not having a fall season is disappointing, but having a plan in place for the spring is sign of hope for our players and an opportunity to compete this season.”
On whether moving football to spring could be detrimental to his players’ recruitment chances:
“I don’t think it will affect them too much. The college coaches will need to adjust, maybe offer a little later than usual; but also will need to rely more on the high school coaches evaluation, more so since some of them won’t have film from last year or the fall season.
Colt Nero, Stagg football
On whether moving football to spring could be detrimental to his players’ recruitment chances:
“We are going to need to make adjustments in order to make sure that the individuals that want to play in college are still getting exposure. We are going to have to be very aggressive in this approach and not rely on film. We will need to be reaching out to make sure that those individuals’ names are on scouts’ radars.”