CLEARING THE WAY: It may be messy, but it will be glorious. Winter sports are happening.
A little optimism is never a bad thing.
It might have seemed out of whack for Glenbrook South and Hersey to schedule a boys basketball game on Feb. 3. In COVID-19 parlance the Illinois Department of Public Health considers basketball a "higher-risk" sport. With suburban Cook County clinging tenaciously to Tier 1 mitigation status had nothing changed that contest would have been canceled or postponed.
That change came this week when the IDPH updated the status of Region 10 to Phase 4. Game on.
Will it be great basketball? Will it be a turnover fest? Will Glenbrook South coach Phil Ralston's sharp whistle warble?
Who knows and who cares.
"I just think it's good that the kids are getting the chance to get on the floor," Ralston said.
After more than two months since the COVID-shaped "winter sports" - badminton, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls bowling, cheerleading, dance, girls gymnastics and boys swimming - were to have gotten underway, on Jan. 27 the Illinois High School Association created new schedules for all sports yet to play over the 2020-21 calendar year.
"It's definitely been a roller coaster," said Glenbrook South boys swim coach Keith McDonald. "We started three days in November, then got put on pause and we weren't sure we were going to start up again."
But as of Jan. 27 teams needed just seven practice dates in order to face an opponent, at least for the "lower-risk" winter sports, all but basketball. One might figure that as soon as the ink was dry on that IHSA announcement gym space was at a premium.
Glenbrook North's girls bowling team also had a match Wednesday. Bowling contests at least initially will be done virtually, with scores fed into a spreadsheet and results taken from there.
The Spartans, bowling at River Rand, "faced" Vernon Hills, bowling on its home lanes.
Despite lacking the fun of sharing lanes with fellow athletes - no parents or classmates, either - despite no state series and even losing a few girls to badminton, Glenbrook North girls bowling coach Laura Ruesch remains positive.
"I think this year a lot of the teams are focusing on having fun and more team bonding and skills and everything. I'm not upset about it," she said.
The winter season will run through March 13, except badminton, till April 3. Season series will not be held except for virtual competitions in dance and cheerleading and a possible season series for badminton. Being a traditional spring sport, COVID swiped badminton's 2020 championship series.
All other sports that are out of season can conduct contact days, limited to three days a week, six hours per week. The spring sports, starting with boys soccer and football, start trickling into practice on March 1 and March 3, respectively.
A lot of this is TBD - to be determined. McDonald, who just found out boys swim teams could hold relays, has a virtual meet Friday versus Evanston but will travel to Stevenson on Saturday. Some sports may hold invitationals. Or not.
As with the swim relays, the IDPH ruled on Monday that cheer and dance teams could perform lifts, pyramids and other stunts - but not during a possible IHSA series.
Some things are left to the discretion of the host school - namely attendance. Though Phase 4 provides a maximum of 50 spectators, schools can set their own rules.
Earlier this week Glenbrook North athletic director John Catalano indicated up to 50 home fans, in addition to game personnel, would be allowed provided they're socially distanced and 30 feet away from the action.
His counterpart at Glenbrook South, Andy Turner, said no fans will be allowed at contests this week.
"Time will heal a lot of this, but we just can't go full force," he said. "We've got to make sure we've covered the areas that need to be covered and prevent the problems that could potentially happen."
Incidentally, both men are busier than a one-armed drummer scheduling officials, navigating the facilities crunch, figuring out overlapping seasons and the resultant coaches of both winter and spring sports.
Officials and the lack of them, as well as COVID, factored into basketball scheduling. Using what Turner and Catalano equated to "the NHL model," the 10 Central Suburban League South varsity games as well as the six CSL crossovers will be boy-girl doubleheaders. CSL South games will be played back-to-back on Fridays and Saturdays.
"Now I feel pretty good with a schedule in place and in Phase 4," said Glenbrook North girls basketball coach Nick Capalbo.
Of course, there's no guarantee Phase 4 sticks. With all that has gone down since last March, Ralston just hopes to "bring a little bit of sunshine" while it's available.
"I think we're of the mindset of let's try to get in what we can," he said.