Decision On Hoops Delayed
As start date nears, conflicts amongst schools on how to proceed raise tensions
(Photo Credit: Mark Ukena)
As the calendar gets closer to a Nov. 16 basketball start date, it remains unclear if several Chicago suburban schools will take the court.
Meetings between athletic directors and superintendents for three of the largest public school suburban conferences—North Suburban, Central Suburban League and Mid-Suburban League—have concluded with no uniform decisions made about the 2020-21 season.
“There is no information. It’s being discussed with our administration and legal counsel,” one suburban coach told The Kerr Report.
Separate Wednesday Zoom calls between North Suburban superintendents and East Suburban Catholic Conference Athletic Directors yielded no concrete outcomes about basketball. ESCC athletic directors set next Tuesday (Nov. 10) as the latest deadline for a decision, sources told The Kerr Report.
Two suburban schools, Libertyville and Vernon Hills, opted out of the Nov. 16 start date approved by the Illinois High School Association. Libertyville and Vernon Hills High Schools make up District 128. The opt out news came from District 128 Superintendent Dr. Prentiss Lea, who informed the school board in a Monday meeting the schools would not play girls or boys basketball in 2020-21.
Reasons given for opt outs, according to sources, are liability concerns over teams playing in defiance of public health guidelines and the disparate educational environments amongst schools.
On Oct. 27, the Illinois Department of Public Health labeled basketball a ‘high risk’ sport, limiting activity to training and conditioning.
For schools to play games, they must disobey the public health recommendations. That is making schools skittish about proceeding with a season while the sport is considered ‘high risk.'
“We’re being told we would lose (a potential lawsuit),” a source said.
Many suburban schools remain in remote learning full time. While a number of schools offer a hybrid model of in-person and remote, the differing circumstances from school to school make it hard for officials to come up with a uniform plan.
“If you look at three school districts, they are likely to at three different phases in the process right now,” a suburban coach told The Kerr Report. “To all agree on sports and the same rules and protocols is pretty rare.”
While many are moving in the direction of opting out, there are some that would like to proceed, delaying the process in making a definitive decision on the basketball season, according to sources.
Schools more desirous to opt in are concerned about the likelihood of a ‘spring’ season, as mentioned by Gov. Pritzker, and the challenges playing a basketball season in February, March and April of 2021 would present.
Currently, seven sports are spring sports based on the IHSA calendar. They are football, boys soccer, girls volleyball, girls badminton, girls gymnastics and girls and boys water polo.
Football, boys soccer and girls volleyball are typically played in the fall, from August through November. They were moved to a February to April 2021 timeline because of public health restrictions during this past fall.
Adding basketball to an already loaded spring season would create significant conflicts for athletes, coaches and administrators.
“We can’t do it. There is only so much gym space,” one suburban coach told The Kerr Report.
One significant road block for schools preferring to opt in is creating a schedule.
If the majority of teams opt out, a likely scenario, whom would teams electing to proceed be able to play?
“The IHSA owns the state series, not the schedules,” a suburban coach said. “I don’t think anyone wants to play (a shortened schedule).”
Playing sports in the Covid-era has taught coaches to be nimble and adjust on the fly.
There is a strong belief amongst a number of coaches that a potential spring season is just another challenge to overcome.
“I’m optimistic. It’s doable,” a suburban coach told The Kerr Report. “Just tell me what to do and we’ll make it work.”
“I just look at this as a long season. We got some bumps in the road and some ups and downs,” another suburban coach said. “Basketball is just one part of the unknown and we’ve had so many unknowns and it’s taught a lot of people about being patient and learning to fight through things.”
The IHSA has informed schools that they would work with those that decide to opt out of a winter season. The organization prefers not to mandate an organized spring basketball season plan as it wants schools to participate in the winter season, which runs from November 2020 through February 2021.
The IHSA has posted guidelines for the 2020-21 basketball season, which include health and safety mitigation recommendations from its Sports Medicine Advisory Board.
Craig Anderson, Executive Director of the IHSA, has repeatedly said the organization plans to move forward with the 2020-21 season.
The question remains—how many, if any, Chicago suburban schools will participate?
Whatever the decision, those in charge are running out of days. Practices are authorized to begin Nov. 16, games Nov. 30. Athletes are getting worried and coaches concerned about their players emotional well-being.
“You can just feel the anxiety coming from them. It just sucks what we are doing to these kids,” a suburban coach said.