Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced on Friday that the Illinois Covid-19 regions that have rolled back to Tier 2 will be allowed to have low-risk high school sports.
“There are regions that are moving into lower tiers of mitigations,” Pritzker said. “In those tiers there are [sports]t that are opening up. That’s a good beginning.”
The three regions moving to Tier 2 are Rockford, Peoria and Southern Illinois.
Low-risk sports will reportedly be allowed to play conference and intra-region games. Low risk sports include boys and girls bowling, cheerleading, dance, girls gymnastics and boys swimming and diving and badminton.
IHSA spokesperson Matt Troha confirmed that the IHSA met with Deputy Gov. Jesse Ruiz about high school sports at noon on Friday. The IHSA says it will have an announcement later today.
The IHSA’s board said on Wednesday that it hoped low-risk sports would be permitted in regions of the state that moved to Tier 2, but worded the statement carefully, as if they weren’t sure.
The IHSA successfully conducted seasons in golf, girls tennis, cross country, and girls swimming & diving through Sectional competition this fall, but all IHSA sports have been paused since November 20.
