Governor Pritzker announced on Friday, January 22 that for those EMS Regions in Phase 4, sports categorized as Higher Risk according to the Restore Illinois All Sports Policy now have some additional opportunities for play. This will finally allow basketball games to be played but again only for those regions that are in Phase 4. Those regions as of this writing are Regions 3, 5, and 6.
We have updated the links below to help you understand what you can and cannot do regarding practices and games as they relate to boys basketball and girls volleyball. To help navigate the ever-changing landscape first ask yourself what is the mitigation level of your EMS region. Once you know the mitigation level, then the links below should answer many of your questions.
Please follow the links below depending on the mitigation level your region of the state is currently placed:
Phase 4: https://www.iesa.org/COVID/Phase4.asp
Tier 1: https://www.iesa.org/COVID/Tier1.asp
Tier 2 https://www.iesa.org/COVID/Tier2.asp
As of Friday, January 22, no regions of the state remain in Tier 3. Region 4 was moved to Tier 2 today so schools in Region 4 may begin volleyball practice but basketball practice can only be held with no contact.
The All Sports Policy updated on Jan. 22 is located at the following link and will provide additional information:
https://www.iesa.org/COVID
IESA is not planning to make any changes to the sport seasons that have been already re-scheduled. This was released on November 12 and is located at this link:
https://www.iesa.org/documents/health/IESA-AltNovPlan.pdf
Reminder: The IESA Board of Directors has a meeting scheduled for Friday, Jan. 29. At that meeting we will discuss the feasibility of conducting state series activities for the remaining sports and non-athletic activities. We will send an update after the Board meeting to inform you of decisions that were made. As always, thanks for your patience and understanding as we adjust to what has become an extremely fluid situation.
Sincerely,
Steve Endsley
Executive Director
