The following is the message we received from IESA today regarding fall sports now being possible for the junior high:
"The IESA Board of Directors once again held a special meeting to discuss the status of fall sports and all IESA activities for the 2020-21 school year. The meeting was convened as a result of the announcement by Governor Pritzker on Wednesday regarding youth sports.
During their meeting on July 23, the IESA Board made the decision to cancel the fall activities of golf, softball, baseball, and cross-country. That decision was based on the information the Association had at the time of the meeting. The All Sports Guidance document that was recently released from the Governor's Office placed the sports of golf, softball, baseball, and cross-country in the "lower risk" category. Sports in that category can hold practices and interscholastic games. As a result of these four sports being recategorized to lower risk and with interscholastic competitions being allowed, the IESA Board for Directors has approved a plan for the return of regular season contests in these activities and a limited state series.
Softball, baseball, and cross-country teams may begin their practices on August 3 and they may conduct their first game or contest on August 15. Please note that competitions may not be held before August 15. This means that contests previously scheduled to start before August 15 will need to be cancelled. This start date is mandated by the Governor's Office. A copy of that document is available at this link: https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/sfc/servlet.shepherd/document/download/069t000000CyCndAAF?operationContext=S1
A regional only level of the state series for softball and baseball will be held the week of September 21 and a sectional only level for cross-country will be held sometime between October 10-17. A sectional only level for golf will be held on Wednesday, September 9.
Additionally, the Board approved a plan for modified seasons in all remaining IESA sports and activities. The purpose of the plan is to provide schools, administrators, coaches, parents, and officials with a general framework for their sports and activity programs in the 2020-21 school year. It is a very fluid plan and circumstances/guidelines/mandates may change any part of the plan at any time. The plan is available at this link: https://www.iesa.org/temp/IESAAlternativePlan.pdf
I speak for the Board when I say they do not like to reverse decisions. In this case, the Board believed the information that became available after their initial decision on July 23 warranted a review of that decision. Ultimately, the Board approved the resumption of a regular season in the sports deemed lower risk and a plan for the remainder of the school year. It is important to remember that the 2020-21 school year is not going to be the same as previous years. We are hopeful that the remainder of the sports and activities will be held. Currently, the majority of those activities have been deemed as medium or high risk. The Board felt that the plan they approved provides direction and a blueprint should we be able to move forward."