By FRED KRONER
New day. Same story. Different chapter.
The ongoing saga featuring the sport of basketball, the Illinois High School Association, the Illinois Department of Public Health and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker added more fodder to a confusing week on Thursday.
A quick review:
–On Tuesday, Pritzker announced that high school basketball had been shifted from a medium-risk sport to a high-risk sport due to the continuing coronavirus pandemic and that the basketball season was being put on hold;
–On Wednesday, the IHSA said, after a Board of Directors meeting, that it was nonetheless preparing to move forward with basketball, starting practice on Nov. 16 and then with games beginning the week of Nov. 30;
–On Thursday, Pritzker asserted that he was moving the basketball season from the winter to the spring.
As that news was circulating throughout the state at warp speed, thanks to social media, IHSA executive director Craig Anderson spoke to a reporter from the Daily Southtown and said, “we plan on going forward,” with the timeline outlined the previous day.
By day’s end, another development was also in the books. The state’s largest school system – in Chicago – announced that it was adhering to the mandates set forth by the governor and that no school in the Chicago Public League would play basketball during the upcoming winter season.
If there’s one certainty, it’s this: the story won’t be ending soon.
“I’m going to go with this not being the final word,” St. Joseph-Ogden boys’ basketball coach Kiel Duval said. “We have literally flip-flopped three times in 48 hours.
“I think between now and Nov. 16th, there are likely changes that will happen.”
His message to his team was simple.
“I told our guys (Thursday), ‘Don’t get too up, don’t get too down,’” Duval said. “Things are going to change.
“We have no clue what it will look like in two weeks.”
Mahomet-Seymour girls’ basketball coach Garret Risley said he has tried to distance himself from the uncertainty.
“As far as when basketball will be played this year, anybody’s guess would be as good as mine,” Risley said. “Although we’re mindful of the uncertainties and have discussed them as a team, we’ve taken a very ‘business as usual’ approach to the outside noise.
“The best way I’d summarize how we’re taking it is with the cliche, ‘Don’t worry about things out of your control’ and if we had a motto for this preseason that would probably be it. Whether they’re lifting or practicing, it’s the best remedy for finding some sense of normalcy, and we’ve all been fortunate to find it.”
Among the myriad of issues – not to mention who has the authority to make final decisions about high school sports and why these various organizations and individuals aren’t in constant communication with each other – are how it would be possible to logistically execute a spring season in basketball.
Heritage principal and boys’ basketball coach Corey White is not a fan of relocating the sport to the spring.
“I see that as a major negative,” White said. “With spring sports already set, now we’re making kids choose between football and basketball or volleyball and basketball.”
Duval said the issues are real, not imagined.
“It would be nearly impossible for it to happen in the spring for small schools,” Duval said. “We don’t have enough athletes.
“We play (basketball) on Fridays, football plays on Fridays, volleyball plays, girls’ basketball … gym space, athletes … I don’t think those aspects were thought about before that was said.”
With many high school athletes having now been competitively inactive since mid-March, moving basketball to the spring would create an overload of sports. It would be virtually impossible for the athletes to participate in two high-profile sports simultaneously.
“The negatives outweigh the positives,” White said. “I think it’s creating a mess.”
Oakwood boys’ basketball coach Jeff Mandrell doesn’t see how basketball could successfully co-exist with other sports in the spring.
“I would say there is absolutely no way basketball would be played in the spring, because there is so much sharing of athletes,” Mandrell said. “I am in favor of keeping things on schedule and beginning winter sports in November.
“The back and forth is frustrating for everybody, because it’s hard to make plans.”
The plight of the athletes is only one part of the equation.
Other considerations include gym space if volleyball, boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball and junior high girls’ basketball are all in season during the same spring time period.
Practice time and the ability to schedule games would be significantly impacted.
“There’s already an officials’ shortage,” White said. “I’ve seen a lot of football officials on the basketball floor and there is overlap – maybe not as many – with volleyball and basketball.”
Duval knows how he feels, and can only imagine what the up-and-down nature of the off-again, on-again sports scenario is like for the teen-aged student-athletes.
“It is frustrating for me, but like our coaching staff was talking about, I could not imagine how frustrating this is for high school kids,” Duval said. “I wish the people making these decisions understood the impact they are having on our kids. It is huge.
“(Wednesday’s) news was one of the happiest times I’ve seen our players. It was unbelievable. It was like everything that has happened over the last few months was in the past and over.
“Then that changed. It has been a roller-coaster for them.”
Without a clear path forward, White said it is difficult to formulate a strategy.
“How much planning can you do when you don’t know what will come next,” White said. “It’s wait-and-see what comes next.
“I feel like we did that in March and April.”
The greater issue is the inability – or reluctance – for someone to take control of the situation without the constant waffling.
“The IHSA made decisions about sports aspects, then the governor inserted himself in, and both have shifted to public health,” White said. “It seems that everyone is trying to push it off to others and no one wants to make the decisions.”
In Thursday’s interview with the Daily Southtown, the IHSA’s Anderson confirmed he had no contact with the governor’s office since his Wednesday announcement to forge ahead with basketball.
“My suggestion would be getting everyone on the same page, and give student-athletes some clarity,” Duval said. “I think it is possible to make it work.
“I understand the health concerns as much as anyone. I have family that is high risk as I’m sure others do, too. If we do everything right and follow protocols, like school, it can work.
“Will we have hiccups? Yes. Again, we can work through it. Our kids deserve an opportunity.”
Heritage athletic director Lori Archer said her job has, at times, been overwhelming since the pandemic started.
“I counted up the other day and between last March and today I have cancelled, changed, rescheduled, changed again, in excess of 200 ball games,” Archer said. “I appreciate everything that the IHSA has tried to do to ensure our student-athletes have the opportunity to participate in a sport this year.
“With that being said, this newest development (IHSA moving forward with basketball, then the governor threatening litigation and then changing the season’s time period) has been the typical roller-coaster ride we’ve been on since March.
“I honestly don’t see the schools going against the health department recommendations, so even though the IHSA says we can play (in November), I don’t know how we can follow proper protocol and make it happen.”
Small schools face a competitive disadvantage if sports within a school district – or within a cooperative program such as Heritage has in some sports with Villa Grove – have to battle one another for athletes.
“I’m worried about the possible crossover of seasons,” Archer said. “If that happens, it may be a tough decision for our athletes to choose between sports.
“We just don’t have the numbers to support multiple sports going on at the same time. And a definite concern will be finding officials. It was difficult filling games back in August when the new timelines were announced, so I can’t imagine filling games now. At some point, someone has to make a decision – right or wrong – and stick with it. This process has been nothing but frustrating.”
Neither Duval, Risley, White nor Archer have a crystal ball to reveal how the basketball scenario will ultimately play out, but Archer is confident in one prediction:
“I have my doubts that this is the last of the changes,” she said.
