CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The wait is over. Sports can resumed Thursday at Chicago Public Schools.
Student athletes have waited a long time for this, holding a series of rallies in the fall demanding they be allowed to play.
"Let us play! Let us play!"
CPS Sports Director David Rosengard emailed schools Tuesday afternoon that boys and girls bowling, boys swimming and diving, competitive cheer, competitive dance, boys and girls basketball, and badminton can begin Thursday.
“Our top priority will continue to be keeping our staff, students, and their families healthy and safe,” Rosengard wrote. “As we did for our comprehensive health and safety plan for reopening schools, the district is working closely with our public health officials to ensure sports can be offered safely. Winter Sports Guidelines have been outlined and CPS is evaluating the option of voluntary COVID-19 testing for athletes.”
According to IHSA guidelines, basketball teams, specifically, will need to practice for seven days before they can play games, which means games could begin sometime next week.
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The news comes just one day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s comments at a news conference raised eyebrows, as she was unaware that the rest of the state got approval to resume sports and have been playing in recent weeks.
“That’s not really our call,” Lightfoot said. “Obviously, we’re going to follow the guidance of the Illinois State Board of Education, but also the Illinois High School Association. We’ve been anxiously waiting for further guidance from them. As an unrepentant sports fan myself, I’d like to see kids get back. There’s some loosening of the guidelines to let some non-contact sports happen. But, as far as I know, we haven’t seen anything that’s specific to, for example, high school basketball. So I’d like to see us move in that direction, but the state really controls the play, no pun intended, on that issue.”
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The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Jan. 22 that regions would be allowed to play basketball and other higher-risk sports in Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan. On Jan. 27, the IHSA started the basketball season, and it announced Monday that CPS will be allowed to play basketball until March 20, one week longer than the rest of the state.
According to CPS, there will be a nine-game conference schedule and a city playoff for the winter basketball season. It says that Sports Administration “will define the number of non-conference games based on recommendations by the IHSA.”
The IHSA currently has no limit on the number of games basketball teams can play, the Sun-Times reported.
CPS guidelines also state boys and girls basketball games can be played Monday through Friday with sophomore games starting at 4:30 p.m. and varsity games at 7 p.m. CPS will allow teams to play any school within 30 miles, which is the limit set by the IHSA and the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The CPS basketball guidelines specify that a maximum of 50 people will be allowed at games and no spectators are allowed.