Sports

Something for student-athletes to “look forward to and focus on”

daniJuly 30, 2020

6 minutes read

By FRED KRONER

fred@mahometnews.com

Not all of the details are clear.

The scheduling is still in limbo.

There’s not even a guarantee that the various state tournaments will be held.

But one important point was revealed Wednesday afternoon which has area athletes, coaches and athletic directors in smiles.

High school sports will soon be returning.

The Illinois High School Association announced its plan on Wednesday and it’s one which is drastically different than anything anyone has been accustomed to seeing in the past.

Four sport seasons will be offered during the upcoming school year – unless more changes are needed – and many sports will now be contested at a different time of the year.

For St. Joseph-Ogden, Oakwood and Villa Grove/Heritage, the fall-sport season will consist of cross-country and golf. Both sports are offered for boys and girls.

Traditional fall sports such as football, boys’ soccer and volleyball have been shifted to a spring timetable. Their practices will start on Feb. 15.

Fall-sport workouts are scheduled to get under way on Aug. 10 and the first meets can be held within two weeks.

“I believe it’s important that our student-athletes have sports to look forward to and focus on, and up until today, we didn’t know if that was even going to be a possibility,” Heritage athletic director Lori Archer said.

“The new format is not an ‘ideal’ situation or what we are accustomed to, but as long as ALL sports are still on the table, then we can make it work.”

SJ-O athletic director Justin Franzen was prepared for any of the possible scenarios that the IHSA had considered.

“With what we’ve been through, nothing surprises us,” Franzen said.

He believes the scheduling previously done for golf “could stay close to intact,” but said cross-country is a different story.

“We may need some modifications in cross-country, like staggered starts,” Franzen said.

Until he receives more information from the IHSA, some decisions can’t yet be made.

“We need to find out how many runners can participate in one meet,” Franzen said. “Is it 50 at one time and then 50 maybe 10 minutes later?

“Our Spartan Classic is typically the last week in September. We’re not sure what that will look like.”

Archer is pleased that the speculation is over and that at least some decisions have been confirmed.

“I’m just glad that a decision has been made and we have some guidance moving forward,” she said. “The worst part about the past few weeks has been the uncertainty of what was going to happen athletically.”

Though not all questions have been answered, the IHSA has reached the starting point in the process.

There are still obstacles to contend with, and Archer is ready to embark on those challenges.

“My concern is going to be the ability to put together schedules and find officials or umpires for the games, but we will make it work, no matter what we have to do,” she said.

Preparation and a willingness to adapt are the key elements, according to Oakwood athletic director John Odle.

“I love sports and have been involved in sports my entire life,” Odle said. “I have a different perspective after serving 20 years as an Air Force Medical Administrative Specialist.

“I planned for every possible event in the military and learned that situations and plans change.

“The decision has been made and we will make the necessary adjustments to ensure that our student-athletes have an opportunity to compete at their sport.

“I was not happy that it took this long to come up with a plan and decision, but every school is having the same issue with their reopening plans. We are in a very fluid environment at this point and we need to all come together to get through it.”

One issue that few people – outside of athletic administrators – are talking about concerns officials.

“A majority of the officials are older folks and some have conditions that could put them at high risk (for contracting COVID-19),” Mahomet-Seymour athletic director Matt Hensley said. “That pool of officials will be impacted and that will present another set of challenges.

“If I were a young official, or someone thinking about officiating, this would be a pretty good time to get into that avocation,” Hensley said. “There could be a chance to get some pretty good games.”

Franzen would like to be optimistic that as football transfers to a new time period “we can use some common sense as we schedule.”

Added Franzen: “I hope we can transfer those weeks (from fall) to what they will become in the spring. If we have six or seven games, we’ll use the officials we had for those weeks.”

The wild card, he acknowledged, is what the actual playing schedule will look like.

“The hard part is I’m not sure we will keep the same opponents,” Franzen said.

Archer said she will keep one thought in mind as she addresses any issues that arise.

“Our main focus is, and will always be, what’s best for our student-athletes, and getting back on the field or court is what’s best for them,” she said.

“I truly appreciate everything that the IHSA did over the past few months to guarantee sports would continue, even though it might not be what we think of as ‘normal.’”

Franzen is not sure of the practicality of extending the high school season with the addition of summer sports that will last until almost the end of June.

“As things start up, something has to give,” Franzen said. “There’s not an ideal schedule when many other things are going on (in June), such as travel teams.

“There’s not a guarantee of a state series. I would like to have more answers.”

For the athletic directors, there could be an unintended consequence of altering the traditional seasons when sports are offered.

Since golf and cross-country are the lone sports available for area athletes in the fall, their roster sizes could increase.

“There’s always a possibility that basketball kids could do cross-country,” Franzen said. “We have a lot of athletes who want to compete and some could go with what is being offered.

“We try to push as many as we can to be multi-sport athletes.”

Archer recognizes that there were bound to be complaints or criticisms regardless of what options the IHSA decided to implement.

“Unfortunately, there is no magic formula that works best for everyone, but the IHSA, the administration, and the conferences have worked together to try and come up with a plan that best meets the needs of the student-athletes,” Archer said.

“My hope is that everyone can embrace this new format and we can all make the best of the situation.”

Some changes will be mandated by the IHSA. Schools are placed in geographical regions. SJ-O, Oakwood and Villa Grove/Heritage are in a region that extends from Iroquois County in the north to Lawrence, Clay and Fayette counties to the south and from Vermilion County to the east to Piatt and Macon counties to the west.

Those boundaries apply only as ADs schedule non-conference events. If existing conference members are located in other counties, it will not affect the ability for contests to be held with those schools.

Though basketball will stay in its same winter time slot, major changes are in store.

“There’s no more than two games a week and no tournament with more than three teams,” Hensley said.

Regardless of what changes need to be introduced, Franzen said he is in a fortunate situation.

“I’m so lucky to work with great coaches, athletes and parents,” he said. “We will continue to make adjustments to what we’re doing.”

Here is the breakdown of sports, and their seasons, according to the plan released on Wednesday by the IHSA.

FALL SPORTS

(season from Aug. 10-Oct.24)

Cross-country (boys and girls)

Golf (boys and girls)

Swimming (girls)

Tennis (girls)

WINTER SPORTS