Elgin Impact,
There were two key announcements that occurred today. One from the State of Illinois and the other from the IHSA. Both announcements have an impact on our upcoming season. The Illinois guidance pertains to all youth and adult recreational sports, including, but not limited to, school-based sports (IHSA & IESA), travel clubs, private leagues and clubs, recreational leagues and centers, and park district sports programs. This guidance categorizes various sports into Low, Medium or High risk activities. The risk is based on proximity of play.
The good news is that Softball falls under the “Low” risk category provided social distancing is observed while in the dugout or on bleachers behind the dugout. With each category of risk, there is a level of play that is allowed. For Low risk sports, teams can play at levels 1,2, and 3. Here is what each level means:
- No contact practices and trainings only
- Intra-team scrimmages allowed, with parental consent for minors; no competitive play
- Intra-conference OR Intra-EMS-Region OR Intra-league play/meets only; state or league championship game/meet allowed for low risk sports only
- Tournaments, out of conference/league play, multi-team meets, out-of-state play allowed.
With this classification and level of play, we will be creating a new league with neighboring area teams. We already have commitment from the St. Charles Silverhawks and the Downers Grove Outlaws. We will be reaching out to more teams soon and prepare for the fall season.
IHSA announced today that the softball season has been moved to May 3 – June 26. With this change, we are waiting to see what the rules will be regarding participation in both your high school team and Elgin Impact. When this was brought up potentially for the 2020 season, it was stated that players could do both. However we will see what 2021 brings. We will still play summer tournaments provided the aforementioned state of illinois guidance is lifted. We will schedule the majority of our tournaments for after 6/26 and participate in tournaments prior to that date if we have sufficient players on the roster. (Assuming you cannot play on both teams)
As the dust settles and as we prepare for the fall, we will make adjustments ( through credits) to our fees. Please stay tuned. We will share more information as more is learned.
