The Illinois High School Association has formed a new ad-hoc committee to study participation options for student-athletes with disabilities. The move comes after a member school requested that the association - which for decades has created inclusion opportunities - further explore what can be done in this area.
The committee, comprised of seven athletic directors and principals from around the state, is reviewing current opportunities available in Illinois for student-athletes with disabilities and evaluating the need to expand those opportunities - including at the state championship level. The committee also will survey member schools and review practices in other states. "We're looking at all opportunities," IHSA executive director Marty Hickman told The Chicago Tribune. "A number of states are doing some things in track and field. Some are doing unified programs like the Special Olympics. We ... want to be as proactive as possible."
The committee's recommendations would build on measures the IHSA has already taken over the years to accommodate athletes with prosthetic limbs, athletes in wheelchairs, visually impaired and hearing impaired athletes, and athletes with paralysis to compete in basketball, gymnastics, golf, bowling, swimming, track and field, and cross country.
Matt Troha, an assistant executive director at the IHSA, says the association's expanded focus on student-athletes with disabilities is not a response to the Michigan High School Athletic Association's recent refusal to allow Eric Dompierre, an 11th-grade basketball and football player with Down syndrome, to play during his senior year as a 20-year-old. The MHSAA handbook states students are not allowed to participate in any school sports if they are older than 19. Twenty-three other states reportedly allow waivers extending the maximum-age requirements for student-athletes with disabilities, but MHSA associate director Tom Rashid told AB last month that "the consistent universal application of the age rule is really the smartest thing to do."
