The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors has decided to keep going with the upcoming basketball season as scheduled despite Gov. J.B. Pritzker saying previously it would be put on hold.
"I was happy to see that the IHSA took a stand in favor of our student athletes across the state of Illinois," said Dave Genis, boys basketball coach at Maine East High School.
The basketball season is scheduled to start on Nov. 16, with the first game scheduled for Nov.30. Concerns about the season starting on time came late last month after guidelines from the Illinois Department of Health resulted in Gov. Pritzker upgrading basketball to a "higher risk" category.
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"I'm sure every coach around the state of Illinois was disappointed to hear the day the Governor and IDPH moved boys basketball to a higher risk sport," said Genis, "I thought we were doing things well, you know, kids were enjoying themselves. For us it wasn't about having a full on practice, for us it was more like skilled development."
Despite the governor's essential halt to the sport, the IHSA wanted to continue on as planned under recommendations from the association's Sports Medicine Advisory Committee which included wearing masks during play and social distancing on the benches
"What I would suggest is that if there's a difference of opinion, I prefer to err on the side of health and safety," Pritzker said in response to the IHSA's decision, according to a report by Patch.
Genis said he understands the governor and department of health have the tough job of keeping everyone safe during a global pandemic, but the tough decisions don't always work for everybody.
"The one thing, I think, I would have liked to heard is more concrete reasoning why we couldn't go forward the way we had been," said Genis.
Genis said the season is in a holding pattern now, but believes they could start later this month depending on the state's positivity rate.
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