Another state is moving high school football to the spring and it's a big one. The Illinois High School Association announced Wednesday that all of its sports will be altered to four shortened seasons (fall, winter, spring and summer) with football beginning in the spring.
Illinois is the sixth state, joining California, Nevada, New Mexico, Virginia and Washington, to shift the fall football season to 2021. The District of Columbia has done the same.
The IHSA's announcement came virtually at the same time that Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that there will be new restrictions to all youth and adult sports in the state, beginning Aug. 15. Sports will be categorized under three risk levels — high, medium and low.
Low risk sports such as golf, girls tennis, cross country and girls swimming and diving shall remain in the fall under the IHSA plan.
Football will join boys soccer and girls volleyball from the fall to join a busy spring season in Illinois.
Also on Wednesday, Michigan and Indiana re-affirmed plans to start the football season on time. Thirty-eight states plan to kick off football in the fall. Of those, only nine pushed back original starting dates.
Missouri recruit Tyler Macon and his teammates at East St. Louis will have to wait until the spring to get back on the field.
Photo by Ricky Slaughter
