CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Friday updated sports guidance for all youth and adult recreational sports under the Restore Illinois plan.
"Over the past seven months I have received countless emails, letters, phone calls from students, from parents, from coaches, many others about youth sports. There have been organized protests about the issue. I hear and I see and I feel the passion around youth sports. I take very seriously the value that recreational outlets offer, for the physical and mental health of our children," said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike.
"I also take very seriously the need to protect them, as do their parents and coaches and broader communities. We are looking at how we can all play safely together."
The updated sports guidance outlines the level of play allowed for all sports under Illinois' Phase 4, Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 mitigations. The guidance outlines when only trainings are permitted, versus when intra-conference play may be allowed; and then at the highest level when tournaments and championship games across leagues can be played.
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As of Friday, Regions 3, 5 and 6 are in Phase 4. All sports will be allowed to play at intra-conference region or league levels.
Under the new guidance, sports are again broken up into three categories: higher risk, moderate risk, and lower risk.
Higher risk sports include basketball, boxing, football, hockey, lacrosse, martial arts, rugby, ultimate frisbee, and wrestling.
Moderate risk sports include flag football or 7v7 football, futsal, paintball, racquetball, soccer, volleyball, water polo, and wheelchair basketball.
Lower risk sports include archery, badminton, baseball, bass fishing, bowling, climbing, competitive cheer, competitive dance, crew, cross country, cycling, disc golf, fencing, gymnastics, horseback riding, ice skating, ropes courses, sailing, canoeing, kayaking, scholastic golf, sideline spirit, skateboarding, softball, skiing, swimming/diving, tennis, track and field, and weight lifting.
"We can't change the fact that there are different sports and they have different levels of risk. Sports like basketball, or football, or wrestling pose a higher risk compared to those, such as, track and field or baseball or gymnastics. So we can and have to make adjustments to best balance the ability to play and the need to stay safe, depending on the conditions in the community," Dr. Ezike said.
Additional detailed guidance on sport-specific mitigation efforts, including appropriate distance, cleaning of equipment, and use of masks by participants, are included below.
The level of play allowed is dictated by current public health conditions.
Type of Play Levels:
• Level 1: No-contact practices, and trainings only
• Level 2: Intra-team scrimmages allowed, with parental consent for minors; no competitive play
• Level 3: Intra-conference or Intra-EMS-region or intra-league play/meets only; state- or league-championship game/meet allowed for low-risk sports only
• Level 4: Tournaments, out-of-conference/league play, out-of-state play allowed; championship games allowed
The following Levels of Play are allowed according to sport risk and current mitigation tier:
In addition to wearing a mask covering your nose and mouth throughout the activity, the following mitigation efforts can lower the risk of COVID-19 transmission while engaged in the following sports:
• Baseball: Maintain at least 6-feet apart in dugout areas or if players are seated in bleachers behind dugout
• Bass Fishing: Limit number of individuals on boat to allow for social distancing
• Bowling: Clean and sanitize equipment, including bowling balls, before and after each game; do not share equipment between players; limit bowlers per lane to maintain at least 6 feet social distance throughout play
• Competitive Cheer: Minimize contact between participants by maintaining at least 6 feet of distancing on the floor during routines, including when changing formations, and by prohibiting lifts, stunts, pyramids, and tosses as well as shared equipment (e.g., signs, flags, poms)
• Competitive Dance: Minimize contact between dancers by maintaining at least 6 feet of distance (i.e., spacing) on the floor during routines, including when changing formations, and by prohibiting lifts and stunts and shared equipment (e.g., poms); Avoid shouting, singing, and chanting
• Cross County: Limit the number of teams and follow physical workspace guidelines
• Cycling: Play individually or use only every other track in velodrome
• Gymnastics: Clean equipment between participants and limit sharing of personal equipment or materials (e.g., chalk); all non-participant personnel (e.g., spotters) should wear masks at all times.
• Ice Skating: Play individually or have one exclusive skating partner
• Ropes Courses: Maintain at least 6 feet of socially distance and clean equipment between each individual
• Sailing: Limit number on boat to socially distance
• Sideline Spirit: Maintain at least 6 feet of social distance on the floor during routines, including when changing formations, and by prohibiting lifts, stunts, pyramids, and tosses as well as shared equipment (e.g., signs, flags, poms); avoid shouting, singing, and chanting
• Softball: Maintain at least 6-feet apart in dugout areas or when players are seated in bleachers behind dugout
• Swimming/Diving: Restrict play to a single lane; no synchronized swimming
• Tennis: Minimize touching of shared objects
• Track and Field: Apply delayed starts, use every other track, and clean equipment between usage; modify relays and team races to minimize contact between players, including by not sharing equipment (e.g., batons)
• Volleyball: Maintain distance of at least 6 feet between players on each side of net and on the bench
• Weight Lifting: Clean between each individual
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The updated sports guidance pertains to all youth and adult recreational sports, including, but not limited to, school-based sports (high school and elementary school), travel clubs, private leagues and clubs, recreational leagues and centers, and park district sports programs. This guidance does not pertain to professional sports leagues or college division level sports.
This guidance supersedes all previously issued All Sports Guidance issued by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), and/or the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).
While regions in the state continue to move toward Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan, the risk of a resurgence, particularly with new variants such as the U.K. variant remains serious. The state urges all Illinois residents to continue following guidance aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19, such as wearing a mask, reducing interactions outside the household, practicing social distancing, frequent hand washing, and receiving the COVID-19 vaccine when eligible.
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IDPH will continue to closely monitor test positivity, ICU bed availability, and the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19. Should data show regions trending in the wrong direction, based on the established mitigation metrics, regions could once again find themselves in a higher tier with increased measures.