McLean County Times

State Rep. Dan Brady (R-Normal) is requesting that Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health increase audience capacity at high school sports events.

Brady said that families and fans should be back cheering for the youth athletes.

The letter, signed by Brady along with other legislators from both sides of the aisle, stated that they were “encouraged by the results” of allowing the youth to attend two full weeks of extracurricular events.

According to them, they have “learned from conversations with school officials involved with the planning and execution of hosting extracurricular activities that there have been in fact not been major viral outbreaks resulting from allowing previously prohibited extracurricular activities.  

The lawmakers also said that the effort made by both athletes and officials was a major factor in keeping everyone safe and that they consider those measures could also be repeated when allowing an increased audience capacity.

“We believe this same level of safety can be maintained and that outbreaks of COVID-19 can be avoided and mitigated,” the representatives wrote. “Therefore, we the undersigned request that grade school, junior high, and high school extracurricular events be allowed to host fans at 25 percent capacity of each individual gymnasium or school provided extracurricular space that hosts boys or girls school sanctioned contests.”

The request was also signed by the officials from the Illinois High School Association, the Illinois Association of School Boards, the Illinois Association of School Administrators, the Illinois Association of Athletic Directors, and the Illinois Principals Association.