IHSA announces plan for 2020-2021 high school athletics

The Illinois High School Association announced its plan for this year’s high school athletics Wednesday in response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

Four condensed season schedules were released, with fall spanning from Aug. 10 to Oct. 24, winter from Nov. 16 to Feb. 13, spring from Feb. 15 to May 1, and summer from May 3 to June 26. 

Several non-contact sports will play in the fall, with other team sports being pushed to later seasons. Sports like football, boys soccer, and girls volleyball have been moved to the spring season, while sports like golf, girls tennis, cross country, and girls swimming and diving will play in the fall. 

The IHSA’s plan came shortly after an announcement Wednesday from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker about the restrictions on recreational sports throughout the state. The government’s plan includes separating all sports into three “risk” categories: lower, middle, and higher.

Each risk category will be limited to a certain level of activity: lower risk sports may play at levels 1, 2, and 3, medium risk sports may play at levels 1 and 2, and higher risk sports are currently limited to level 1 activity. The levels are as follows: 

Level 1: No-contact practices and trainings only

Level 2: Intra-team scrimmages allowed, with parental consent for minors; no competitive play

Level 3: Intra-conference or Intra-EMS-region1 or intra-league play/meets only; state- or league-championship

game/meet allowed for low-risk sports only

Level 4: Tournaments, out-of-conference/league play, multi-team meets, out-of-state play allowed; championship games allowed

Click here to see the full IHSA schedule for each sport, which coordinates with the state’s determinations on each sport’s general risk of exposure.