PRESS RELEASE REGARDING GK FALL 2020 ATHLETICS

PRESS RELEASE REGARDING FALL 2020 ATHLETICS

July 29, 2020

On Friday, the IESA (Illinois Elementary School Association) officially cancelled all IESA-sanctioned middle school Fall sports.  Today, the IHSA (Illinois High School Association) offered their guidance regarding high school sports for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year.  These two announcements are a result of the current unprecedented pandemic situation we currently find ourselves in.

MIDDLE SCHOOL:  After discussions with the Mid-Northern Middle School Conference Administrative team today, the MNC has decided to cancel all traditional Fall season sports.  At GKMS, this includes Volleyball, Cross Country, Football and Sideline Cheerleading.  The MNC has sent a press release regarding these cancellations.  The MNC’s Administrative Team will continue to reassess the feasible options available to us in regards to the Winter Sports season moving forward as we await updated guidance and direction from our state and local governing bodies.  Winter Sports currently offered at GKMS are Boys & Girls Basketball, Wrestling and Cheerleading.

HIGH SCHOOL:  Earlier today, the IHSA released their Return to Play guidelines in regards to reopening school-based athletics in the state of Illinois.  The landscape of High School sports has been altered drastically.  In essence, the current 2020-21 schedules that have been developed for all 19 sports offered at GKHS will essentially have to be wiped out and completely reconstructed allowing for the new timeframe windows, contest modifications and restrictions.  Boys & Girls Cross Country and Boys & Girls Golf will now be the only Fall Sports available (in a modified format which is yet to be defined) to GKHS students during the upcoming Fall season.  The traditional Fall Sports including Football, Boys Soccer, Girls Volleyball, Sideline Cheer and Performance Dance will now be moved to the early Spring.  The traditional Winter sports including Boys & Girls Basketball, Wrestling, Competitive Cheer and Competitive Dance will now begin in late November.  The traditional Spring sports including Boys & Girls Track, Girls Soccer, Baseball and Softball will now take place in late Spring and into the early Summer months.  As of this moment, the current 2020-21 schedules located on the GK Athletic Department website are now null and void.

The Athletic Directors and Administrators from both the MNC and BNC Conferences are currently in communication and developing a strategy for how to proceed moving forward.  We will do our best to communicate any new information as it becomes available to us.  Also, online registration processes, re-assigning of officials and event workers, new transportation departure schedules and a slew of other logistical scenarios need to be developed and established.  We will need parents, student-athletes and coaches alike to be extremely patient as these new guidelines offer many potential pitfalls and challenges.  Please bear with us as we navigate through these new guidelines and hopefully receive more clarification from the IHSA moving forward.  Thank you for your patience and your continued support of the Genoa-Kingston Athletic Department.

Future updates will be posted on our Facebook and Twitter social media sites @GKCogsAthletics and on our GK Athletic website at https://il.8to18.com/g-k

8/29/2020 11:30 PM