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ILLINOIS — A class-action lawsuit against the Illinois High School Association, filed on behalf of student-athletes hoping to play sports this fall in Illinois, was denied Thursday in a DuPage County courtroom. Judge Paul Fullerton denied the temporary restraining order involving the IHSA’s Return to Play guidelines, filed by a group of parents on behalf of their children, largely due to special circumstances caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are in a pandemic and I think what the IHSA did was within their authority under the [organization’s] by-laws and constitution,” Fullerton said of the IHSA’s decision to move football, among other fall sports, to the spring following restrictions placed on youth sports by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in July.
Among the contentions made by the plaintiffs in the lawsuit is that the IHSA’s board of directors did not have the right to pass the Return to Play guidelines without a full vote of its 800 member schools.
“I believe that they do [have the right],” Fullerton said. “In reading the [IHSA’s] constitution and by-laws, they must be read as a whole. There was a lot of argument parsing out sections of the by-laws, and you can take that language in certain sections to support your position. There are arguments that these guidelines are amendments, or no, they’re modifications, or no, they’re an adjustment, but they are a temporary adjustment.”
Parents David Ruggles, Chris Warden and Kelly Ridges, on behalf of their student-athlete children, were the lead plaintiffs in the case, and were represented by lawyer Jeff Widman. The IHSA was represented by David Bressler.
“The IHSA says ‘what difference does it make as the governor won’t allow it to be played.’ The ADs [athletic directors] and coaches don’t stand up for the kids and instead say ‘what difference will it make.’ The teachers don’t stand up for the kids to get them back in class because they say ‘what difference does it make,” Ruggles told Patch. “The people whose job it is to advocate for the kids are incompetent cowards.”
A status update on whether a preliminary injunction hearing will occur is planned for Monday. Widman said he would discuss the matter with his clients before saying the plaintiffs want to move forward with the case.
“While the IHSA defended itself in court, our defense was not a rebuttal against expanding the participation opportunities for high school athletes in Illinois,” IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said in a statement. “The IHSA has and continues to believe that we can safely conduct high school sports in Illinois throughout the 2020-21 school year…If changes to that schedule are forthcoming, we feel that the path to achieving them is through collaboration with the Illinois Department of Public Health and state leadership, as opposed to litigation.”
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs stated the IHSA Board of Directors adopted a series of guidelines — Return To Play and Contact Day Guidelines — that altered the 2020-21 sports seasons mandated by the IHSA bylaws. The guidelines, according to the lawsuit, include an outright ban on certain sports (football, boys soccer, girls volleyball) during the time periods, to which the IHSA by-laws limit those sports. The lawsuit argues these amendments to the IHSA by-laws were not enacted through the legislative process that the IHSA Constitution requires. The plaintiffs are asking the court to find them invalid and void them.
“Again, we’re in a pandemic. I’m sitting here in the courtroom and I’m only allowed to have a certain number of people in the courtroom. Everybody is wearing a mask, and I’m sitting behind plexiglass to protect myself,” Fullerton said. “The last pandemic we had of this type was 100 years ago, so clearly, we’re in special circumstances. When things like this happen, people take action, and I think what the IHSA did was at least within their bounds.”
In his ruling, Fullerton said he has student-athlete children of his own and that he understands how tough not playing sports this fall is for all the athletes, especially seniors.
It remains to be seen if Ruggles and the other plaintiffs in the case plan to move forward with time running out on the fall sports season.
“The poorest kids among us continue to get screwed by this incompetence and nobody stands up for them. Guys like me will be fine because I’ll take my kid over to Indiana, where he can compete on the court and go to school,” Ruggles said. “The leaders in Indiana and Iowa have guts and advocate for the kids.”
Related:
Lawsuit Demands Illinois High School Assn. Start Fall Sports
Pritzker Reiterates No High School Football This Fall In Illinois
Letter To Pritzker ‘Greatly Misconstrued’ On Social Media: IHSA
Pritzker Places Restrictions On Youth Sports, IHSA Responds
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