Metro East Sun

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is depriving student-athletes the opportunity to grow as individuals by restricting high school and youth sports, according to a House representative from Downstate Washington County.

“With sports and school, I believe our children need to be in school,” Illinois state Rep. Charlie Meier (R-Okawville) told the Metro East Sun. “I have not heard anything from Gov. Pritzker's mouth about the increase in our juvenile suicides. Our students need to be back in school. They need to be seeing their teachers, social workers, counselors and coaches.”

Meier’s remarks came in response to Pritzker's recent announcement of limitations on high school contact sports just as the Illinois High School Association board of directors was preparing to issue a 2020-21 schedule, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Traditional fall sports such as football and boys' soccer have been moved to a February-through-May schedule.

Illinois state Rep. Charlie Meier (R-Okawville) | File photo

“I believe student-athletes should be allowed to play games,” Meier said. “My nephew is a football coach over in Missouri and they are playing their regular schedule. They are playing their games with reduced attendance in the stands.

“When you're in school playing sports, you're learning social skills,” he continued. “Sports are part of a learning process and we're taking that away from our youth. The bond they have with their teachers and coaches is huge and it helps students grow as people and grow into the adults they're going to be. We're taking that away from our student-athletes right now.”

According to media reports, Missouri has not implemented any statewide restrictions on social gatherings and businesses, but six feet of social distancing is required and retail businesses that operate indoors are limited to 25% capacity. Missouri Gov. Mike Parsons reportedly is leaving it up to local governments to impose stricter coronavirus rules, such as mask mandates.

Missouri had reported 70,675 coronavirus cases statewide and 1,414 fatalities as of Aug. 20, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Meier says whether to restrict sports or not in Illinois should be the local school boards’ decision.

“School boards know what's going on in their districts,” he said. “They were elected by the voters of that district and it should be up to those school boards to make that decision and not somebody who doesn't even know where that district is. We need to see any way possible of trying to keep our schools open. The virtual classes that they can do in the suburbs of Cook County and the five collar counties can reach most students pretty easily because of the accessibility to the Internet.”

According to Illinois’ COVID-19 guidelines, football, boxing, wrestling, competitive cheerleading and dance are limited to no-contact practices and training. Activities are classified into either high-risk, medium-risk or low-risk, and Levels 1, 2, 3 or 4.

For example, high-risk sports can play at Level 1 while medium-risk sports can play at Level 1 and 2. Medium-risk sports include basketball, soccer, water polo, flag football, wheelchair basketball and volleyball.

As of Aug. 20, 211,889 coronavirus cases and 7,782 fatalities were reported statewide in Illinois, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.