The Illinois Basketball Coaches Association, or the IBCA, recently sent a survey to boys and girls high school basketball coaches around the state of Illinois. An amazing 797 coaches responded. The survey contained questions involving the use of contact days and the upcoming basketball season. Currently, basketball in the state of Illinois is categorized as a moderate-risk sport according to the Illinois Department of Health’s Youth Sports Guidelines. Moderate-risk sports are currently at Level-2 in the Youth Sports Guidelines. That allows teams to practice and hold intra-squad scrimmages, but not interscholastic competition. The IHSA has permitted member schools to utilize 20 contact days from September 7th to October 31st for all non-fall sports.
In the survey, 95 percent of Illinois boys and girls basketball coaches were in favor of starting the season in November. Also, 81 percent of coaches feel their schools would permit them to start the season on November 16th. Through the summer contact days, 93 percent of coaches reported no known COVID-19 cases among members of their program. The seven percent of programs that reported cases said it was only one or two program members. As far as fall contact days, 91 percent of coaches reported no known cases, with the 9 percent of programs reporting cases saying it was limited to one or two members. The IBCA says data collected from these surveys demonstrated that the mitigations in place during the summer and fall contact days have worked in helping prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Right now, with being at Level-2 status, the IDPH mandates masks for practices being worn and no interscholastic games can be played. In order for games between schools to happen, the IDPH would have to re-define basketball as a Level-3 sport. The IBCA shared its survey results with the IHSA. IHSA executive director Craig Anderson delivered its basketball guidelines to the state’s governor’s office last Friday. Anderson hopes to have a decision on the upcoming season from the state by November 1st.
In their conclusion to the survey results, the IBCA said that, “We understand and appreciate the fact that the IDPH and Governor’s Office have considered these arguments and have weighed them against their responsibility to keep the people of Illinois healthy and safe. Our state has had tremendous success keeping cases and positivity rates low compared to other states. Based on the data collected from our survey, among many other reasons, we believe that the mitigation and health guidelines in place have proven to be successful in helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while student-athletes participate in basketball activities. It is because of this we are advocating for basketball to move to level 3 in the IDPH Youth Sports Guidelines in time for the start of the 2020-21 winter season.”
Here’s the link to the IBCA’s Return to Play Survey
