A longstanding debate between Illinois lawmakers and the IHSA has been settled with a compromise on a new ‘Right to Play’ bill.
The new bill was part of an effort to allow students who participate on a school sports team to play the same sport in non-school settings or tournaments.
The General Assembly had passed a bill in April to partially override the existing rule, which applied unless the athletes obtain permission from both their school and IHSA.
This week, lawmakers and the IHSA struck a compromise allowing high school athletes to participate in events not sanctioned by the IHSA by making waivers more plentiful and easier to obtain.
For athletes like Isabelle Leofanti, it’s one thing to play well on the pitch, but she knows you have to play well in front of the top coaches and recruiters if you want a scholarship.
“Now these athletes will be able to do both and not have to risk their high school eligibility for one weekend of an event that could help them play in college,” Leofanti said. “It’s so important that it should have been done a long time ago.”
The association currently allows students to obtain as many as three waivers in a season to compete in outside contests or tournaments if those events are sanctioned by the sport’s national governing body.
Lawmakers are hopeful that the compromise will help to clear up confusion and allow athletes to have opportunities to showcase their skills on big stages.
“Before what the IHSA had were these bans on outside competition outside activity and it resulted in some really absurd outcomes,” said Naperville State Representative Janet Yang Rohr, who was one of the sponsors of the measure.
In a statement, the IHSA’s executive director said, “We recognize that IHSA by-laws require occasional modifications.
Stand Anderson is a nationally recognized goalkeeper coach. He said the changes will open opportunities for student athletes.
“It means there is an opportunity for them to now be able to be seen by other people who might not be coming to a high school game,” he said
The original rule was put in place, the IHSA has said, to protect student athletes and diminish overuse.
Leofanti said those pressures are part of the modern world of high school sports.
“Athletes go through overuse all the time because so many athletes want to get recruited and get to the next level,” she said.
Leofanti said while she played for Metea Valley High School, she also played club soccer and other events in the off season and that is one reason she will now be able to play college soccer at Kent State University while pursuing a double major in business and journalism.
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