High school football could cease to exist in some towns if a concussion lawsuit filed against the Illinois High School Association succeeds, officials with the organization said Friday.
IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman said some schools would not be able to afford on-call doctors for practices, computer-based concussion screening and other changes sought by the former prep quarterback who is suing the group.
“If this lawsuit is successful, it will present challenges to high school football programs that are … so far-reaching for many schools, they will undoubtedly adversely affect high school programs, and could eliminate some programs in Illinois,” he said at a news conference.
The IHSA’s public push-back comes less than a week after Daniel Bukal, who played in the early 2000s at Notre Dame College Prep in Niles, filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging the organization doesn’t do enough to stem the potential damage from concussions.
Bukal claims in the suit that he sustained multiple concussions during games and practices, and that he still suffers from lightheadedness, memory loss and migraines related to the injuries.
Hickman, though, pointed to numerous new safety rules the IHSA and state lawmakers have put into place in recent years, including mandatory concussion education for coaches and the cessation of hitting during summer practice.
Some of the measures sought by the lawsuit are already being done at many schools, he said. But because the IHSA is an organization run by its members, he said the group cannot make broad changes to its safety policies without their consent.
Court-imposed changes, he said, could create a two-tier system of high school sports in Illinois, where wealthier districts can afford new safety mandates and higher insurance costs, and poorer districts are forced to drop football.
“I think that’s a place we don’t want to go,” he said. “That’s one of the risks of this lawsuit, that only the folks who can afford to have these extra requirements are going to continue to have these programs, and only their kids are going to benefit from these programs. That would be an injustice. That would be a shame.”
Bukal’s attorney, Joe Siprut, could not immediately be reached for comment.
jkeilman@tribpub.com
Twitter @JohnKeilman