IHSA will determine fate of spring sports at Tuesday board meeting

The Illinois High School Association says its board of directors will make a final determination on the fate of spring sports on Tuesday.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday he is closing the state’s schools for in-person instruction through the end of the academic year because of the coronavirus.

After Pritzker’s announcement the IHSA posted a message on its site that the board would make an announcement after its board meeting on April 21.

“As we previously indicated, the cessation of in-person learning will make it difficult for the IHSA to conduct spring state tournaments this year,” the message said. “More information will be provided following Tuesday’s Board meeting.”

When all Illinois schools were ordered closed and all prep sports canceled until at least April 7 in an attempt to slow the coronavirus pandemic, the news hit hard.

“It all came up very quickly,” St. Charles North baseball player Kyler Brown, whose team’s Florida trip was among the events called off, said. “My initial reaction was not to panic because that would only make things worse.”