Game Over If Bold Action Not Taken
Likelihood of hoops or football in 2020-21 diminishes daily, hard choices come next
(Photo Credit: WICS)
I’m on an email list for a high school football program in the Chicago suburbs.
An email sent Monday listed the schedule for the program’s winter weight lifting sessions. There were well over 100 names on the list (this is not a high enrollment school so it was great to see the robust participation numbers). The schedule was broken down for five days of the week, following proper public health guidelines, or what we now call mitigations.
I recognized the names of the majority of athletes. I thought about what they felt when seeing their names on the color-coded list, the initial emotional reaction, that of probable excitement about the beginnings of a purposeful task done in the company of their best friends.
In a normal November, diligent reps in the squat rack inside, adjacent to the daylight savings-induced darkness outside, are done in preparation for brighter days ahead—a late summer showdown with a conference rival in front of packed grandstands. That 90-yard drive to win a game in October is made possible by the work done 11 months before. That’s why weight rooms are filled with catchy slogans such as:
THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS
But this is not a normal November. Or a normal year. We exist in a new normal where politicians wield sharp swords, inflicting thousands of small cuts each day.
Tuesday, Governor Pritzker ordered new (old) restrictions on life in Illinois due to the coronavirus pandemic. The constant bumpy roller coaster ride that is life in 2020 is something all of us continue to navigate through.
There was one quote from Pritzker’s press conference important to pull out:
As you saw today with the Tier 3 mitigations, we obviously are asking people not to have youth sports operating in any significant fashion.
It’s the latest in Pritzker’s months-long mind f**k with athletes, parents, coaches and administrators.
Asking. Significant. What exactly is he saying? At this point, it doesn’t matter.
What matters is how those impacted are going to deal with it.
I’m thinking of those young athletes thrilled to hit the weight room with their teammates Monday. Once again, Lucy has yanked the football out from under them.
The events of Tuesday and throughout the coronavirus pandemic beg the same question.
Are we going to let a didactic, spiteful politician, still mad over his tax hike amendment being crushed at the polls, play games with our lives, or are we not?
There are a handful of roads here to beat back Pritzker.
One is to move out of the state. Many have done so. But most of us can’t. Jobs, families, cost, etc. make it simply not practical.
But for those who can, and have a sports-playing child with potential and dreams of the next level, I would go. Free yourself of the burden of having that child’s hopes and aspirations flattened by the Illinois Covid Testing Game of Thrones.
For most, we are staying put. It’s a long game but the time is never more urgent to move the ball forward.
It starts with one school, one district, one conference. One decision.
We are going to allow winter workouts to continue.
That’s all one school superintendent needs to say.
It’s not being disobedient to public health guidelines. Nothing changed from Tuesday. Basketball and football remain ‘high-risk.’ The Illinois Department of Health website still lists high-risk type of play allowances as “no contact-practices, trainings only.”
Most Chicagoland schools began this type of training Monday.
Pritzker used the word ‘asking’ in his statement about youth sports. He did not say ‘command.’ That’s an important distinction. Mask wearing is a ‘recommendation’ not a ‘mandate.’ (and a very sensible recommendation).
There is no ‘order’ given Tuesday by Pritzker.
The only order should come from superintendents/principals:
“We are continuing workouts as scheduled following all health and safety protocols and putting our athlete’s safety first. We have confidence in our coaches and athletes to follow guidelines as they have throughout the 2020-21 school year.”
They are the ones in control of this now, the superintendents. The political ping-pong ball was fired back on their side of the court in late October when the IHSA disregarded the IDPH and Illinois State Board of Education and endorsed a basketball season. But superintendents balked, claiming legitimate liability concerns with playing a sport in violation of public health recommendations.
But continuing to allow athletes to train now is not being recklessly insubordinate. Rather, it is acting as leaders should, with logic-based sensibility, with a touch of compassion and humanity. How can any superintendent continue to justify inaction that siphons off the mental and physical well-being of kids they are supposed to serve and protect?
The IHSA made its bed. It gave control to Pritzker back in July and continues to exist at the whims of his actions.
The only way basketball or football is going to be played in 2020-21 is if school districts do it. They have to be bold enough to say:
“We don’t trust Pritzker. We don’t trust the IDPH. We are going to work as hard as we can to mitigate liability concerns and do what is best for kids and give them an opportunity to play.”
How to start that process is with collective intent.
Coaches need to be advocating internally. Parents need to be emailing/calling/messaging school officials. Athletes need to be doing the same, and taking care of each other. Many already are doing so, but must now at a swifter pace.
One school district, D220 in northwest suburban Barrington, did act Wednesday. It deserves credit for continuing workouts for a few days.
But what happens after Friday when workouts are ‘paused’? Who is going to give clearance? How is that decision being determined?
Those are questions all community stakeholders need to be asking right now.
If not, and if training is paused indefinitely, then forget about it.
For families who can’t move, the majority, then I’d reach out to the private sector.
For basketball, that’s an easier process as there already exists a hearty AAU operational system.
One suburban hoops coach told me Tuesday night he is researching the idea of a travel team featuring players from his high school team. More coaches should be leading with industrious-based thinking now if they want their players to have any kind of season.
Football is not a sport with a built-in club culture. But why not do it now? If I’m a high school coach, and if Wisconsin and Indiana are open to it, why not explore the idea of travel spring football? If the high school coaches won’t do it, someone will. There are plenty of club-like football organization in Chicagoland that will gather the resources and play. Demand won’t be problem.
I practice what I preach here—I coach in the The Chicagoland Youth Football League. In December, we are going to find a way to start training our kids for a possible spring season. Our coaches are going to do so putting our kids safety first and follow public health guidelines.
I don’t care what Pritzker says. I don’t care about ridiculous fear-mongering nonsense people spread on social media. We are going to make it happen because both can be done—keep kids safe and give them opportunities to play.
The time for waiting and hoping is over.
Thursday, the IHSA’s Board of Directors has another meeting. The organization released a statement Wednesday night from Executive Director Craig Anderson:
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) recognizes that today’s announcement by Governor Pritzker will temporarily pause the IHSA’s winter sports season. We remain optimistic that these new mitigations, coupled with the emergence of a vaccine, will aid in creating participation opportunities in the New Year for IHSA student-athletes in winter, spring, and summer sports. The IHSA Board of Directors will meet as scheduled on November 19, 2020, to continue plotting out potential paths for IHSA sport and activity participation through the remainder of the school year. Although representatives from the Governor’s office and the Illinois Department of Public Health will be unable to attend the meeting, today’s updated guidance from Governor Pritzker will aid the Board’s decision-making. We have asked Deputy Governor Ruiz and Dr. Ezike to engage with us in the near future, so that we can collaborate on developing a plan to safely conduct IHSA sports and activities as soon as possible. IHSA schools have been exemplary in adhering to state regulations throughout this pandemic and we hope that non-school programs will hold themselves to the same standard as we all put the long-term health and safety of our fellow citizens ahead of short-term athletic competition.”
Is there anything in this statement that arouses any confidence in what the outcome will be from this latest meeting?
The IHSA actually complimented Pritzker in its statement. Talk about a glutton for punishment.
As usual in The Year of the Virus, there are no easy roads here. But actions speak louder than words.
Community stakeholders rise up. Respectfully demand education leaders show backbone and allow athletes to continue to train. It’s a small step but a significant one in the long run. If not, then the options are flee the state or find outlets in the private sector. There is much more incentive for ingenuity and imagination there, unlike in public education, where leaders continue to hide behind liability, mitigations and protection of self-interests.
The stakes are high, an entire sports season for thousands of athletes close to being wiped out.
What are you going to do about it?