SPRINGFIELD – A House committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would give high school student athletes the right to participate in both school-sponsored teams and nonschool teams in the same sport at the same time, despite concerns that such a policy could create friction between coaches and jeopardize students’ safety.
House Bill 3037 would create the “Right to Play Act” in Illinois and override existing rules of the Illinois High School Association, which sets eligibility rules for student athletes and strictly regulates their ability to participate in nonschool programs.
Those rules generally prohibit students who participate on a school team from also participating on a nonschool team in the same sport during the high school sport’s season.
IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said in an interview that currently students may participate in as many as three outside contests or tournaments during the season, but only if those events are sanctioned by the sport’s national governing body and the student receives permission from both their school and IHSA.
Rep. Janet Yang Rohr, D-Naperville, the lead sponsor of the bill, told the committee that the rules have resulted in students being disqualified from competition over seemingly minor infractions.
“We have cross country runners who are running a charity race during the cross country season. IHSA found out and disqualified that runner for the rest of the season,” she told the House Education Policy Committee. “We have members of a high school pom squad in Will County. Members of that pom squad went to a dance competition, and IHSA found out and disqualified those dancers for the rest of the season.”
Libby Magnone, a junior at Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein told law makers that during her first two years of high school she was prohibited under IHSA rules from playing soccer at her school because she also played in the Girls Academy League, a program that sponsors tournaments that are eyed closely by college recruiters.
“The best soccer players across the state have to choose between having to forgo showcasing their talents to college coaches that recruit from these tournaments, or sitting out their high school season,” she said. “Issues like these disproportionately affect girls and young women because unlike football or basketball, college coaches and scouts rarely go to high school events.”
But Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, who serves on the committee, said the rules restricting participation on multiple programs exist for several reasons, including protecting the health and safety of student athletes.
“If there’s a kid in a concussion protocol, if there was an event that happened, maybe in a soccer game with one team or the other, I don’t know that that coach has to communicate with the other coach to make sure that the kid is rested,” she said. “And so I just have issues with that overlap.”
Stuart said the policy change could also create friction between coaches, and put the students and their families in awkward positions, if both teams have games or activities scheduled on the same day.
“They’re in a spot,” she said. “Their high school coach says, ‘If you don’t go to practice, you’re not playing the next 10 games,’ or whatever the typical thing is. And then you have a traveling coach who says, ‘Well, if you don’t show up for our practice, then you’re not playing.’ And then the kid has to choose. ‘Which one do I not have an opportunity in?’ I think you’re going to have a lot of issues with that.”
The bill passed out of the Education Policy Committee on a 12-0 vote, with Stuart voting “present.” The measure will go next to the full House for consideration.
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