As of July 29th, major alterations were made to the 2020-2021 sports calendar as the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) rolled out its plans for this year’s sports seasons in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the updated schedule, we have a preview of the year ahead and what to expect for sports at Saint Patrick High School. The bulk of the announcement explained how many sports are moving to this spring and summer this school year. This includes football and soccer, both which are moving to the spring.

When asked his opinion of the football season being moved, varsity football player Alex Goworowski ’22 put it, “I do support the decision made on moving football to the spring season. It hurts me but it was the right thing to do considering we are living in a pandemic.”

Many of the spring sports are also set to move to the summer, including baseball, track and field, volleyball, and tennis. The announcement also outlines that this year’s sports season will be condensed. Competition will be restricted to schools within the East Suburban Catholic Conference (ESCC) and schools that are geographically close.

The table below shows the condensed seasons:

IHSA Board President, Tim McConnell said, “The Board believes this plan offers the most realistic chance for student-athletes to participate in interscholastic sports while balancing the challenges of a new academic setting.” In their announcement, the IHSA Board stressed how this plan is fluid and will change and adapt with state guidelines. However, through phase 4 this is the plan with updates coming out as the seasons progress to how things like playoffs and tournaments will be held.

Below is a table detailing all sports at Saint Patrick and their updated sports seasons:

*As of the publishing of this article, the restrictions on two games per week for the winter, spring, and summer sports have been lifted. The summe sports are also set to start two weeks earlier (April 19).