The head Boys’ Basketball coach at Mount Carmel High School in Chicago looks forward to the first game on Friday, Dec. 4, as the school possibly moves forward in light of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) board of directors’ announcement. IHSA board of directors initially opposed to Pritzker’s Oct. 27 announcement of the high school basketball season would be delayed because of increased coronavirus cases in the state.
Phil Segroves said in a Zoom interview that Mount Carmel may possibly play a Chicago Catholic League schedule.
“Us being a private, Catholic Carmelite School, we have a board of directors, and currently, our president is working with our board of directors in regards to making a decision that’s best for all of our student athletes across the board,” said Segroves in the interview.
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“I would say as of today, we plan on moving forward and playing basketball this year. With a lot of other districts in our COVID region choosing not to play, it looks like that we may possibly be only having the Chicago Catholic League schedule," said Segroves.
“At this point in time, if our board of directors, our president, our parents, our athletic directors, administrators, if we feel that that’s safe for our student athletes, then I feel fine going ahead with playing … a smaller, but still competitive schedule through … December and January," said Segroves.
At the level of risk that basketball was placed, “only no-contact practices and training are allowed,” said Pritzker in the Oct. 27 press release.
The IHSA’s modified season scheduled practices to begin on Monday, Nov. 16, the first contest to be played on Monday, Nov. 30, and the end of the season on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021, according to the IHSA’s website.
However, the IHSA in a Nov. 11 virtual update session asked that schools planning to begin basketball practice on Monday, Nov. 16, adhere to the Level 1 mitigations from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) All Sports Policy, until at least Thursday, Nov. 19, when the IHSA board will have its regularly scheduled meeting, according to a press release.
“The Board plans to provide more direction on basketball practice and games following the meeting on November 19,” said the press release. “The Board revealed that among the 546 schools who responded to the survey (IHSA has 813 member schools), nearly 300 IHSA schools do not plan to start basketball on November 16, and another 212 schools remain unsure of their status.”
Segroves said in the Zoom interview that student safety is “always going to come first” at Mount Carmel.
“We’re going to do a lot of our own due diligence on our end to make sure that that is first and foremost. In the forefront, is the safety of our student athletes,” said Segroves in the interview. “I do know that we have had 40 contact days through the summer and the fall that the governor and the IHSA approved with certain mandates, if you will, and we have not had one case within our program.”
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