Coronavirus Rules Permit Interstate Travel For Youth Hockey

EVANSTON, IL — A youth hockey program in Evanston that sent teams to Indiana and Wisconsin last weekend has cancelled a game against a team from Highland Park planned for Sunday in Kenosha, club officials said Wednesday.

Despite restrictions on youth sports in Illinois aimed at reducing the potential spread of the coronavirus, travelling out-of-state to play hockey is permitted by municipal authorities in Evanston and Illinois amateur hockey regulators.

And with every neighboring state allowing competitive youth hockey, a group of parents are petitioning for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to reconsider its determination that hockey is a "high-risk" sport.

According to a statement from Evanston High School Hockey, which has no connection with Evanston Township High School, the club follows safety guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the sport's national governing body.

"USA Hockey is sanctioning hockey for the 2020-2021 season and states that medical experts have confirmed that with taking appropriate precautions, it is safe to play hockey," it said. "With that in mind, EHSH, like many other Chicago-area high school clubs in various sports, is not prohibiting its teams from playing in optional out-of-state games, provided the teams follow local health and safety protocols in those states."

The private club's high school team played a game Sept. 20 in Dyer, Indiana, and had been scheduled to travel to Kenosha for a matchup Sunday against a team from Highland Park. Evanston Now first reported the club's interstate travel and planned return to Wisconsin.

Club officials said Sunday's game was called off after the Chicago Department of Public Health put Wisconsin back on its list of states with a high rate of coronavirus — defined by having an average of 15 or more daily new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people.

Anyone who returns from Chicago after overnight travel to a high-risk state, is required to self-quarantine for 14 days upon their return. In suburban Cook County, the 14-day quarantine period is recommendation rather than an unenforced mandate.

But officials in Evanston and Skokie — suburbs that have their own health departments and are not subject to the Cook County Department of Public Health recommendation — have declined to issue their own quarantine recommendations. Plus, day trips to high-risk states that do not involve an overnight stay do not require a quarantine.

According to the club's statement, Evanston High School Hockey "proactively cancelled any upcoming games, scrimmages or activities in Wisconsin. We will continue to monitor local, state and federal health and safety guidelines regularly to make appropriate and safe decisions."

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Earlier this month, the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois announced it would not sanction any in-state tournaments and would not recommend that clubs travel outside the state to play. But, at the same time, it eliminated a rule that required a travel permit for teams that schedule out-of-state matchups.

"If teams or participants travel out of Illinois, they would be subject to any applicable State of Illinois quarantine requirements and may be subject to penalties by the State of Illinois if it determines that such travel violated the current health regulations," according to a Sept. 10 statement from the association, which noted that individual clubs bear the full legal liability for any consequences of out-of-state play. "Currently, AHAI does not intend to take disciplinary action for participating in sanctioned activities in another Affiliate unless the State of Illinois issues a clearer directive on the subject."

Hockey tournaments have been linked to clusters of coronavirus cases in several states, although it has not been specified if infections have been tied to activities at ice rinks or instead to other close contacts from the trip.

With hockey designated as a "high-risk" sport by the J.B. Pritzker administration, a group of parents had collected more than 12,000 signatures as of Thursday morning on a petition pushing for the sport to be reclassified .

Representatives of the "Restore Youth Hockey" group argue youth hockey can be played safely. Protective equipment, rules against checking and a lack of close contact or a need to enter a locker room were all cited as reasons why the sport can be played safely.