CARTERVILLE (WSIL) -- Governor Pritzker announced updates to the Illinois Department of Public Health All-Sports Policy.
Masks are now required for all IHSA indoor fall sports practices and contests.
Volleyball is the lone indoor fall sport in our area.
Masks are required for indoor sports regardless of an individual’s vaccination status.
The mask directive applies to student-athletes, coaches, officials, game personnel, and fans.
The policy update does not create restrictions to scheduling or spectator limitations.
IHSA sports that may be conducting open gyms, general conditioning, or weightlifting indoors are all required to wear a mask.
We caught up with Carterville Head Volleyball Coach Nathan Emrick to get his thoughts on how the Governor's latest updates impact local high school volleyball.
"This is what the rule says right now and it's just like any other rule you may or may not agree with, it's still a rule and we have to follow it," Emerick said. "When Governor Pritzker is putting a mandate on here that schools have to do then we are going to follow that to the best of our ability."
Volleyball players were required to wear masks the last time they took the court. Teams understand what they are up against if they want to play.
"Will it be hard at times? Yeah it was hard at times in April, March, February. It is what it is, the time we are in and I think from a standpoint with us we are going to do what we have to do to make sure we play every Tuesday, Thursday and hopefully get a feel for what it's like to be in a regional again."
So what is the biggest challege of wearing a mask during a volleyball match?
"The big thing I think was the communication standpoint. I think having a mask on, you don't realize how much your players rely on reading your lips and piecing that information together so a communication standpoint was a big part. but it's one of those that once you get into practice and get into a game, it's still the same thing. Nothing changes if you have a mask on your face or not. I think you just have to be a bit more diligent about how you communicate and make sure your kids understand what they are doing and things like that and not just reading what do their eyebrows tell me about their expression."
Masks for an indoor sports are now a policy. It's acceptance begins with the leadership of the coaches."
"If we present it and we're grumbling about it, complaining about it and fighting it ourselves, then our players are are going to respond to that and replicate that and are going to have that same mindset but I think if we as coaches come in on day one, hey this is where we are at, this is what we have to do and if we want to play and want to have a postseason which we didn't have last year and we want to have those things then this is what we have to do."
At the end of the day, Coach Emrick says it's still volleyball. The focus is on August 9th. The first day of practice and improving each day until the season's start in November.
"They are always constantly wanting to come in and get extra reps and stay late or come in early but they also love being around each other. I think that's a huge part about volleyball that's different than a lot of other sports. You have to mesh so well in volleyball because you have to rely on everyone else for yourself to be good."
