On the heels of a story in the Peoria Journal Star earlier this week week that stated the IESA was having financial difficulties, the organization that oversees high school sports, the IHSA, is also having financial hardships. IHSA executive director Craig Anderson says they cannot last another year without fans in the local stands. Anderson says the IHSA is looking at a two-million-dollar deficit. The IHSA gets money from both school membership fees and tickets to its state championships. There was no championship in basketball last year or in football this year, and both of those are huge events for the IHSA. Anderson says he expects there will be winter sports this year, but he doesn’t think the state will allow fans in the stands, which would be crucial to the IHSA’s survival. The IDPH will have a decision on Monday on whether the state will permit, or whether specators can be present at, high school basketball games, which is scheduled to begin practicing on November 16th. Following the IDPH’s decision on Monday, the IHSA will hold a special board meeting on Wednesday and release the results of that meeting shortly thereafter.