CHICAGO — After a tense Wednesday during which the Illinois High School Association announced it would defy orders from the Illinois Department of Public Health and Gov. J.B. Pritzker by going forward with playing basketball this fall, the governor at his Thursday news conference gave a rebuttal.
“The fact the IHSA has a different opinion, I mean, I’ve known that for some time about different areas of sports,” he said.
“We have talked to them on a frequent basis [and have] gotten their opinions about each one of these things.”
Pritzker said he’s not trying to cancel anyone’s sport, but has asked certain higher risk sports, like basketball, be moved to spring.
“We want kids to be able to train, to perform their skills, to condition themselves for their sport, even at the most high-risk level. We want them to be able to at least do that,” he said.
“But, there are medium-level risks and low-level risks, and those sports will, in fact, be played in the fall and winter.
“What we’re trying to do is get to a point where positivity levels are much lower, where the number of cases in our state is much lower, and when I hope and pray we will have much better treatments and vaccines available.”
The governor reiterated schools who do not follow state orders could be subject to legal action.
IHSA, meanwhile, released a list of safety guidelines.
Among them, players must wear masks during play.
An officials’ timeout will be taken each quarter at the first dead ball under the five-minute mark so players have a chance to catch their breath.
