Low Risk Winter Athletics May Begin Jan. 19th

Low-risk winter sports (badminton, cheerleading, dance, boys swim/dive, bowling, and gymnastics (hosted at OH)) may begin practice as early as Tuesday January 19th. Coaches of those teams will be reaching athletes who have shown interest or participated for those sports when they began in November. Those sports that didn't have tryouts in November will have a schedule posted as soon as it is created. Here are a few additional items to be aware of:

• Registration/Physical - All athletes must be registered on 8to18 and have a current physical on file. 
• COVID Mitigations - Masks must be worn at all times, social distancing will be observed, and no sharing of items. Bring your own water bottle as drinking fountains are turned off. 
• Locker Rooms - Locker rooms are still off-limits under our current mitigations. 
• Athletic Shuttles - Athletic shuttles will start running on Wednesday for students who are learning remotely. These shuttles should get athletes to OEHS by about 3:10 for practices. Please see this link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vhBGy1X5qDPsea9JZ2kKOgVnggNJepKc/view?usp=sharing for routes.

Some out-of-season sports will begin "contact days" in the immediate future as well. Coaches of those sports will be reaching out and posting their plans on social media and/or school announcements. The same COVID mitigations listed above will be in effect for contact days. 

1/22/2021 5:37 PM

SD308 and IHSA Update January 15th

The IHSA Board of Directors met for their regularly scheduled Board meeting on January 13th. Here is a quick recap on the information from that meeting.

* IHSA sports remain in a pause until IDPH determines otherwise. We could see potential rollbacks by region as early as today, Jan. 15, but a chance exists that the status of sports may not change even if rollbacks occur.

* The Board approved the resumption of “contact days” in all IHSA sports that are not in a season as soon as IDPH allows. 

* Given our current pause, the IHSA Board plans to meet again on January 27 to set a schedule for the remainder of the year, although they realize time is drawing short. See their full statement in the release below.

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors met for its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, January 13, 2021, where the Board announced that all IHSA sports not operating under an official IHSA season calendar may begin to conduct contact days as soon as they are allowable per Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) mitigations and local school guidance. Contact days normally exist within the IHSA as informal voluntary offseason workouts.

"The IHSA acknowledges the immense mental, emotional, and physical strain that a lack of contact with school programs is causing Illinois high school student-athletes,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “It is our intention that these contact days provide sport-specific training under the leadership of high school coaches. This is an effort to provide a viable sports option to high school athletes given the growing number of student-athletes opting for higher risk opportunities within the state and across state lines."

Additionally, the Board reviewed several options outlining a sports schedule framework for the remainder of the school year. The Board directed the IHSA staff to take feedback from today’s meeting, as well as any insight gained in the coming weeks, and bring forward viable scheduling options for a special Board meeting on January 27, 2021. The Board will provide an update following that meeting.

Once state leadership allows for low-risk winter sports (Boys & Girls Bowling, Cheerleading, Dance, Girls Gymnastics, Boys Swimming & Diving, and Badminton) to begin participation, those teams will be allowed to begin practice immediately and then continue their season through the season calendar established by the Board later this month.

Oswego and Oswego East High School continue to work with the IHSA to promote a safe return to play as soon as it is possible in conjunction with IDPH and IHSA mitigations and guidelines.

1/21/2021 6:38 PM