North Cook News

The Illinois High School Association's (ISHA) defiance of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's attempts to put off the state's upcoming high school basketball season over COVID-19 concerns is the right one, the mother of a local women's college prep basketball team said during a recent interview.

"We are THRILLED that the IHSA is ignoring Pritzker's order!!!," Regina Dominican High School parent Nancy Strenk told North Cook News during an email interview. 

"It is about time that the IHSA made their own decisions and work with leagues AND school districts and NOT leave a governor (who seems to know little about sports other than perhaps his daughter's horseback riding) in charge of athletic decisions," said Strenk. 

Members of the 2018-19 Regina Dominican High School Varsity Basketball team. Point Guard Laura Strenk is in the back row, second from left | rdhs.org/

In addition to the IHSA, Strenk said that "parents, together with their children, should have the final say about their children's participation."

Strenk's daughter, Laura Strenk, was point guard for Regina Dominican during the most recent season.

Strenk deferred comment about what Regina Dominican might be planning for the upcoming high school basketball season, usually scheduled to begin later this month, to the school's coaching staff.

Pritzker, with guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health that had just moved basketball from the "medium risk" category to "higher risk" in its winter safety guidelines, announced high school basketball and wrestling in the state would be "on hold."

The day after Pritzker's announcement, IHSA's Board of Directors voted in a special meeting to proceed with the basketball season as scheduled. The board also set schedules for other sports, including "low risk sports" such as swimming and diving, cheerleading, bowling and gymnastics, according to an IHSA announcement.

The IHSA made those decisions following guidance from its Sport Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) and boys and girls basketball will begin practice on Nov. 26, according to the announcement.

Play can begin "within an Illinois COVID Region or within a conference" on Nov. 30, the announcement said.

Teams will follow limitations that allow a maximum of 31 games and masks will be worn by players, coaches, and officials during play, according to the IHSA announcement.

"It will become a local school decision to determine if a school will allow their basketball teams to participate following the guidelines developed by the SMAC," the IHSA announcement said.

Since the announcement, fewer than 34 high schools are certain their basketball seasons will start this month, according to Chicago Sun-Times sources.

It isn't clear whether Regina Dominican is one of the 34 certain high schools but the school does have a preference, Regina Dominican High School Varsity Basketball coach Bob Newton told North Cook News in a separate email interview.

"We at Regina would prefer to play," said Newton said, "Be it winter or spring, there will be a risk until everyone has had a vaccine. Which isn't going to happen until next school year if we are lucky."