Illinois lawmakers will be debating a bill this spring which would enforce a penalty for a State high school athletic program or team which exceeds practice hour maximums. According to the bills sponsor, a Democrat representative from Naperville, House Bill 5406 is being proposed for “the benefit of the physical and mental health of athletes.” It came at the recommendation of a student athlete constituent who complained about the length and intensity of their sports practices and suggested State law be modeled after California’s shorter practices.
Under the bill:
- A team may be allowed no more than 18 hours of practice time per week and no more than 4 hours of practice time in any single day.
- Any competition day shall count as 3 hours of practice no matter the length of the competition. Additional practice time may continue for one hour after the competition, which shall include post-competition cool-downs, stretching, and team discussion.
- Team captains or other team leaders, such as upperclassmen, may not be used to circumvent any requirements and may not organize practice to circumvent any requirements
State Representative Dan Swanson (R-Alpha) said he believes, as a former school board member, that this is a local school board issue that local boards and the IHSA should fix and not the General Assembly. Attached are his comments.
