"We know that there will be many people within the school system who will applaud this decision and there will be many who will be strongly opposed. At the forefront of the Board decision is that the activities must be conducted within the current limitations that have been placed on the schools by the IDPH. In particular, the mandate that there can be no physical contact between athletes and that students must be socially distanced (6 ft. of separation) makes the administration and conduct of games and contests very difficult and in some cases impossible to adhere to the mandates. While there are plenty of youth league baseball and softball teams playing games and tournaments this summer, many are not adhering to the same stringent guidelines. Because summer leagues and travel ball are taking place, this may make the decision of the IESA Board of Directors seem odd. The difference is that schools will be held to the IDPH mandates and the youth summer contests are not. It would make little sense for IESA to move forward with these activities that would require schools to be in direct conflict with mandates by state agencies that have regulatory control over the schools."
Ok so here's something I find very interesting in the above paragraph from IESA. They state schools have to adhere to IDPH guidelines (no contact, 6 feet, etc) but youth/travel does not. Since when? Did IDPH not publish the youth sport guidelines in phase 4 with restrictions? This to me kind of says IDPH isn't enforcing youth/travel guidelines, even though they also put out the guidelines for them too. Which one is it? If IESA meant to say that they have to adhere to the ISBE guidelines for schools (coming down from IDPH and CDC) then they should make that correction. Just saying IDPH has no authority over travel versus school is incorrect, as every entity had to adhere to IDPH in all the restore phases.