By FRED KRONER
Illinois high schools on Wednesday received the direction they’ve been seeking on reintroducing sports for the remainder of the school year.
The Illinois High School Association issued start dates for the 25 sports which have been on hold.
For this year only, there will be no postseason championships to shoot for (with the possible exception of summer sports), but that is a sacrifice Mahomet-Seymour coaches are willing to make.
“Everybody wanted a postseason,” M-S football coach Jon Adkins said. “I just wanted one game for these kids and anything beyond that is icing on the cake.
“I am beyond thrilled. I would have been happy if the kids just had the chance to go on the field one more time and play a sport they love.”
Football’s start date – along with volleyball for girls and soccer for boys – was set for March 3. Football teams will face a six-game regular-season schedule. The football and volleyball seasons will end on April 24. Soccer concludes on April 17.
First up in the sports lineup is basketball for boys and girls, bowling, cheerleading, dance and boys’ swimming.
Those sports were allowed to start practices at the end of last week. Their seasons will be over on March 13.
“We’re beyond excited in the IHSA’s decision to return to play, especially giving us the opportunity to play sooner than later,” first-year M-S girls’ basketball coach Garret Risley said.
The third competitive IHSA season to be played before the 2020-21 school year ends will be baseball, girls’ soccer, softball, track and field, and wrestling.
Those seasons will go from April 5-June 19, except for wrestling (which is from April 19-June 12).
Not every sport will conclude its season before practice begins in other sports.
“I’m pretty disappointed with the overlapping seasons,” M-S athletic director Matt Hensley said. “It’s a tough position for kids (in multiple sports).
“They have to have 12 practices (for football) and the first game is six days after the last basketball game.”
The practice time for basketball was reduced by the IHSA from 12 days to seven days. Since all schools didn’t start workouts on the same day, there will be different dates for the first game.
In Douglas County, for example, Tuscola is playing a home game Friday night (Jan. 29) against Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond.
“I’m a little disappointed there’s not a common start date,” Hensley said. “Philosophically, I don’t agree with that.
“So much is predicated on when you start (practicing). Some boundaries would have been healthy.”
Hensley believes the Apollo Conference will try to play a double round-robin schedule in basketball, with each school playing its opponents once at home and once on the road.
That would consist of 14 games. Once the league schedule is set, other games could be added.
“If we see opportunities to put in non-conference games, we will,” Hensley said, “but we won’t go crazy.
“If we want to get Big 12 schools, it will be determined by what they have available.”
Bulldog boys’ basketball coach Ryan Bosch is pleased to have the parameters in place for a season.
“It is going to be a whirlwind getting all of these logistics figured out in short order,” Bosch said. “We’re fortunate to have Mr. Hensley, who has done so much heavy lifting for our high school programs in order for this to run smoothly.
“We feel so relieved, so grateful for our kids that they will get a season. In particular, very excited for our (six) seniors that they can take the court for a short time together.”
Risley said it has been a long time coming to reach this point. He knows the situation will remain fluid.
“The girls have been working towards this since we started pre-season conditioning back at the beginning of the school year,” Risley said. “There’s a lot of planning that’s going to take place, but the virus will have the last say in how many games we get in.”
Bosch said he is pleased that the student-athletes have a positive to look forward to, and hopes the situation doesn’t change.
“I’m excited to get back in the gym,” Bosch said. “The kids have been enthusiastic and working hard and have earned this opportunity.
“I hope that we can, as a region, continue to hit our metrics to make this season a reality.”
Basketball games can remain on the schedule as long as regions remain in Phase 4 of the IDPH guidelines.
Goal-setting takes on a different perspective this year, Bosch said.
“I want the kids to play as many games as we can in a healthy manner prior to March 13,” he said. “I know that Matt and the other ADs in the conference will try to maximize our opportunity.”
Risley said that no matter how many games are ultimately played, this will be a memorable season.
“I know they’ll be excited to get in as many games and experiences with their teammates as possible,” Risley said. “Everyone will have to play a role in following the variety of protocols that are out there for us to adhere to.
“But, it’s more than worth it and this will be a season that the girls won’t be forgetting anytime soon.”
The Apollo Conference ADs will meet – once by Zoom today (Jan. 28) and once in person (Feb. 1) – to finalize details for schedules across the board.
Hensley believes one option for football will be to pick up the schedule with games on the dates that had previously been scheduled when the sport was shifted from the fall to the winter season.
“There is some value in keeping the schedule as it is,” Hensley said. “We know when we’re at home and have officials assigned to come to our place.”
When football was originally rescheduled for winter, games would have started on March 5.
Football games can now start on March 19. If the previous schedule remains in effect, the Bulldogs would start at home against Effingham (which would have been their March 19 opponent, too, on the previous schedule) and follow on successive Fridays with games at Mount Zion, at Lincoln, at home with Charleston, at Tolono Unity and with a home-finale against Taylorville.
One league opponent (Mattoon) would not be on the M-S schedule for this season. For Hensley, that creates a problem.
“I’m of the opinion if you don’t play everybody in the conference, whatever the sport, I don’t see how you can award conference championships or pick all-conference teams,” he said.
“In basketball, if you quarantine for two weeks, you could miss six games and that would be unfair to a kid who might have been the best player in the conference.”
Since there are no guarantees how many games will be played, due to possible surges in COVID-19 cases, Adkins said everything is on the table as far as what events will coincide with the home games.
For example, the tradition of holding Senior Night at the final home football game could be altered in 2021.
“The idea has been thrown around (to have it early in the season),” Adkins said, “but nothing is set in stone.”
While there is talk about overlapping seasons for athletes, the same is true for some coaches.
Adkins is the M-S seventh-grade boys’ basketball coach. His team held tryouts on Monday and will have their opening game on Thursday (Feb. 4) at Mount Zion.
“Our last (seventh-grade boys’ basketball game) game is March 9, and the next week is our first football game,” Adkins said. “There will be a couple of weeks for me to juggle (practice schedules).”
If high school athletes in basketball have conflicts in sports, he expects coaches to settle those concerns amicably.
“Our M-S staff as a whole does a great job of working together and myself and Bosch will work out what is best for the athletes,” Adkins said.
One Bulldog sport which has competitions scheduled is boys’ swimming. M-S will open on Feb. 13 against Champaign Central.
Hensley said he hopes to add at least one more swim meet to a schedule which currently has four dates.
Hensley said he expects more clarification from the IHSA about sport-specific guidelines. A requirement in football has been for the first two days of practice to be held without pads, but that was in place to get players accustomed to the heat in August.
With a winter start date, there is a possibility that mandate could be waived. Also to be determined is whether the seven preseason practice dates for basketball are the total per school or for each individual on the team.
Those questions will be answered soon.
“Our parents have been patient and we need a couple more days of patience,” Hensley said.
Another issue which needs to be addressed is spectator attendance at games. There is a 50-person limit (excluding players, coaches, officials and game personnel), but Hensley said it is his understanding that cheerleaders and dance team members are not a part of the excluded list.
“If they are not considered part of what it takes to put a game on, they would count to the 50 spectators,” Hensley said. “We have to do some work to see what that looks like.
“We believe it is important for all high school kids to be part of the high school experience. If that doesn’t change, that will have a dramatic impact (on attendance).”
There could be 15 cheerleaders and 15 dance team members at the home games.
“If that leaves 20 tickets left, who gets those?” Hensley asked. “Senior parents would have priority.”
There might not be enough for everyone. With six seniors in boys’ basketball and another three or four in cheerleading and another three or four in dance, the maximum would quickly be exceeded.
“We’re going to stream all of our games,” Hensley said. “The best option might be to order a pizza, sit in your living room and watch high school basketball.”
