To All IESA Member Schools:
We have received numerous calls and emails about the wearing of face coverings by players, coaches, and spectators. To alleviate many of these calls and to help you answer the questions you are receiving, please refer to the document we have put together. Hopefully, this will assist all of us regarding the questions surrounding the wearing of face coverings.
Unfortunately, we are receiving many reports of players, coaches, and particularly parents and spectators who are not following the face covering mandates. We are also receiving reports of schools who are doing a good job of abiding by the face covering mandates. But, the number of those who are not following the mandates exceeds the good reports. I have said this before, and I think it bears repeating especially to those who question the wearing of face coverings at outdoor events. If we want our student-athletes to have the privilege of participating in education-based sports and the benefits provided by doing so, we ALL have to be accountable for following the mandates and requirements. If we do not, we may not have any choice but to shut things down.
Here is the face covering document :
https://www.iesa.org/temp/IESAFaceCoverings.pdf
We are also receiving questions about the annual A.D. conference that was scheduled for Friday, September 4. Because of the size gathering limitation of 50 people, we have had to cancel that meeting. However, we have rescheduled the conference for Friday, November 13. If the size gathering limitation is still in place and we would have to cancel that date also, we most likely will not reschedule the meeting a second time. Those schools who have attended the A.D. conference meeting in the past and have received credit for attending a Division Meeting will simply have to watch the online Division Meeting presentation. The online version of the Division Meeting will be available sometime in mid-September.
The annual scholastic bowl workshop which is scheduled for Friday, November 5 most likely will not be held either. There will be an online version of the meeting made available to the membership later in the fall.
The speech workshop which was scheduled for Friday, September 11 has been cancelled. There are no plans to reschedule that workshop. Nicole Schaefbauer will send speech specific material to all schools participating in the speech contests.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Steve Endsley
IESA Executive Director