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Multiple Area Sporting Events Canceled Due To CoronavirusFree Access


It’s never easy working all year for something, only to have it pulled away at the last minute.

Unfortunately for athletes of all ages, the coronavirus (COVID-19) forced many organizations to put an end to their respective championship tournaments or special events for the foreseeable future.

Here’s a look at some of the recent announcements affecting local athletes:

McDonald’s All-American Games and Jordan Brand Classic Both Cancelled:

Maine West girls basketball star Angela Dugalic was scheduled to compete in the McDonald’s All-American game April 1 in Houston. 

The organization announced Thursday, March 12 that they were cancelling this year’s events.

“We made this very difficult decision in order to protect the health and safety of the players, coaches, fans and event staff,” the organization said. “We know how much the McDonald’s All American Games means to the tremendously talented 48 high school athletes (24 boys, 24 girls) selected to the roster. Cancelling the games does not diminish the contributions they have already made to the sport and their communities — nothing can take away the fact that each of them will forever be a McDonald’s All American.”

Nike’s flagship high school all-star game, the Jordan Brand Classic, was also cancelled March 12. Dugalic was also scheduled to compete in that event as well.

“As we continue to navigate through the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, we are cancelling this year’s Jordan Brand Classic planned for March 27,” the organization (@Jumpman23) said on Twitter. “While we understand how disappointing this is for the athletes, their families and the communities who were excited to participate, in everything we do we must prioritize the health and safety of our employees, athletes and consumers.”

Understandably, Dugalic was hurt by the two announcements.

“I’m really sad about it,” Dugalic said. “I understand why but I wish they would have rescheduled the games. I was really looking forward to them.”

Maine West’s Angela Dugalic smiles as she shows off her McDonald’s All-American jersey earlier in the year.

IESA Girls Volleyball State Series:

IESA Executive Director Steve Endsley made a few announcements, including stating the IESA made the decision to cancel the remainder of the IESA volleyball state series for both seventh grade and eighth grade. 

Endsley announced the day before that the IESA was hoping to postpone the volleyball championships, but after some time, made the tough decision to cancel.

“Several factors have been taken into consideration just in the last 24 hours to reach this decision,” Endsley said. “Some of those factors that will be difficult to overcome if we continue the state series include: the increasing number of schools who are closing for an extended period of time, state host availability, scheduled spring breaks and extended school closures after spring breaks, the availability of contest officials as we transition into the high school spring season, Gov. Pritzker’s mandate to cancel events with 1,000-plus people and the recommendation to cancel events with more than 250 individuals, and multiple state high school associations across the country (including IHSA) have cancelled their remaining winter activities.”

Endsley understood a lot of people would be upset with the news, but he hopes they understand the reasoning.

“We know that many will not find this decision to be appropriate and/or in the best interest of the student-athlete,” Endsley said. “We understand your athletes have practiced, overcome adverse situations throughout the season, made sacrifices and have grown as students and athletes to get to this point to feel like it is being taken away from them. Your opinion is respected and whether each individual school administrator, student-athlete or community member agrees, the IESA takes our responsibility seriously to slow the spread of the coronavirus before the risk increases. 

“Our belief is that currently, the unknowns in relation to public health are bigger than IESA volleyball. We recognize there are several teams that will not have the opportunity to finish their regional, sectional or state final experience; however, we hope that you will spend time with your students reflecting on the great things that did happen this year – the wonderful friendships, exciting matches and moments of great play. Those are the experiences that truly make for a memorable season.”  

IESA Wrestling State Finals:

Endsley also announced that the IESA wrestling state finals scheduled for Friday-Saturday, March 13-14 at the Convocation Center on the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb were cancelled as well.  

“IESA received word from NIU late Wednesday evening that the university is mandating that our event not be held this weekend due to the coronavirus pandemic,” Endsley said. “At this point in time, there are no plans to reschedule the tournament. While this is unfortunate for many reasons, we have to comply with the directive from Northern Illinois University. The health and safety of our participants and fans attending the finals is our top priority. Given the nature of the activity, it is an unreasonable expectation to ask athletes to maintain weight controls for an unknown or extended amount of time. We are very disappointed for our athletes and schools who have worked very hard to participate in this event.”

This is unprecedented for the IESA, but made with the best of intentions to keep the athletes safe. Hundreds of kids were expected to wrestle, but since the sport involves so much contact, the risk wasn’t worth it.

“We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience and the disappointment,” Endsley said. “At the same time, we take seriously our responsibility to help slow the spread of this disease.”

Nearly 30 Journal-area wrestlers were scheduled to compete at the state meet. Twin Groves (Buffalo Grove) was bringing Yash Jagtap (95 lbs.), Themba Sitshela (119 lbs.), Ivan Popov (135 lbs.) and Tyler Li (185 lbs.). River Trails (Mount Prospect) qualified Danny Lehman (80 lbs.), Matt Rak (155 lbs.), Daniel Saucedo (167 lbs.) and Leo Delgado (185 lbs.). MacArthur (Prospect Heights) qualified Alex Lucas (80 lbs.), Patrick Tinsley (100 lbs.) and Maksim Mukhamedaliyev (105 lbs.). Those 11 wrestlers qualified in Class A, while the remaining wrestlers qualified in Class AA, before the event was cancelled. Thomas (Arlington Heights) qualified Jake Hanson (95 lbs.), Jacob Twardowski (100 lbs.), Connor Cambria (155 lbs.) and Anthony Cambria (167 lbs.). Aptakisic (Buffalo Grove) qualified Alejandro De Leon (119 lbs.), David Brumer (155 lbs.) and Val Discultu (275 lbs.). Cooper (Buffalo Grove) qualified Max Turner (105 lbs.), Esteban Delgado (112 lbs.), JJ Garay (135 lbs.), Ian Garcia (167 lbs.) and Jorge Zuniga (215 lbs.). Daniel Wright (Lincolnshire), which sends students to Stevenson, qualified Andrew Chamkin (75 lbs.) and Tyler Reiff (80 lbs.). Lincoln (Mount Prospect) qualified Adam Epperson (65 lbs.) and Michael Matuszak (167 lbs.). London (Wheeling) qualified Danny Alfaro (155 lbs.).

IWCOA F/S and Girls Wrestling State Finals:

Nearly 60 Journal-area wrestlers qualified for the 2020 IWCOA High School Girls and Freshman/Sophomore (boys) state tournaments scheduled for Saturday-Sunday, March 14-15. Unfortunately, the championships are indefinitely postponed. 

The Sangamon County Health Department and the Bank of Springfield (BOS) Center have closed the BOS Center for the next 30 days, according to the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA).  

“We are heartbroken for the athletes, coaches and families who were preparing to have two great days in our state’s capital,” the organization said. “Please know that the IWCOA exhausted all options, but there simply isn’t a county health department or facility in the state of Illinois willing to host an event of this size given the current public health situation. We sincerely apologize to all for this inconvenience. The health and safety of our athletes will always be our highest priority.”

The IHSA recently wrapped the individual and team state championships, but these events were supposed to shine a light on the future wrestlers and the female competitors.

“Please keep these young athletes and all of the other age groups affected by these recent cancellations in your thoughts,” the IWCOA said. “From the NCAA to the IKWF to the IESA and beyond; our thoughts are with you as your athletes try to understand that the months and years of training will not culminate in an opportunity to wrestle for a 2020 championship.”

According to the IWCOA, the hotels in the Springfield area were issuing refunds and cancellations for the event. 

Illinois Youth Soccer:

The Illinois Youth Soccer organization, headquartered in Arlington Heights, announced that all Illinois Youth Soccer activities are suspended through April 15 and will be re-evaluated on an ongoing basis. They also noted that all US Soccer events, including coaching and referee courses, are suspended through April 30.  

These Illinois Youth Soccer activities suspended include coaching education courses (suspended through April 30), State Cup/Presidents Cup/Illinois Cup games, state premiership matches and ODP team participation in tournaments.

The Illinois Youth Soccer office will be closed through at least March 29. All staff will be working from home and can be contacted via email.

Pro Sporting Events:

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced Thursday, March 12 a rundown of the state’s plans to combat the coronavirus. That included recommending all major sporting events with large spectator crowds should be cancelled until May 1. This should include school and college events, as well as major league sporting events. 

The NBA and NHL both indefinitely suspended their seasons, while the new XFL shutdown play for the rest of the inaugural season (completed 5 weeks). MLB announced it’s cancelling the remainder of spring training and delaying the start of the season by at least two weeks. The PGA Tour cancelled the Players Championship meet after one round and then postponed the upcoming Masters, among other events. MLS is suspending play for at least 30 days. NASCAR announced it was postponing the Atlanta and Homestead races scheduled over the next two weeks. NASCAR later postponed all races through May 3, but plans to make up all 7 Cup Series races, along with all 6 Xfinity Series and 5 Truck Series races. IndyCar announced it is cancelling the first four races of the season (Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Honda Grand Prix of Alabama, Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, AutoNation INDYCAR Challenge at Circuit of The Americas). The races were scheduled for March 15, April 5, April 19 and April 26. Formula 1 announced it’s cancelling its first four races (Australia, China, Bahrain and Vietnam). Both IndyCar and F1 hope to start its respective seasons in May. 

NCAA Cancels Winter and Spring Championships:

Here’s what the NCAA announced Thursday, March 12: 

“Today, NCAA President Mark Emmert and the board of governors canceled the Division I men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships. This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic,and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities.”

Many universities also announced they are suspending all athletic competition (including practices) indefinitely, including Duke University and Kansas.

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