Starting in Jan. of 2026, the Illinois’ Right to Play Act (House Bill 3037) will allow athletes to participate in club sports, while simultaneously competing in high school sports. Before this bill was passed, IHSA rules disallowed athletes to compete in travel teams while playing a high school sport, meaning that anyone who violated the rule was considered ineligible and suspended of playing high school sports for the remainder of the season.

Following the new policy, student-athletes are now enabled to obtain two waivers per season that permits participation in outside of school events. IHSA claims to encourage the change because “it provides more opportunities for non-school participation for high school students during their IHSA season.”

Although some can see the benefits of playing on two separate teams, such as extra practice, enhanced athletic performance, and more chances to get recruited by colleges, others are opposed due to risk of injury, conflicting schedules, or inability to play at 100% in both sports.

“I am definitely opposed to playing club and high-school in the same sport in the same season,” WEGO basketball and volleyball coach, Jen Ward said. “The injury potential is doubled, and it’s a conflict of coaching. Club coaches sometimes pressure kids to miss high-school stuff, and that puts them in a tough spot.”

Conflicting schedules with sports tied with balancing academic pressure could potentially lead to burnout and exhaustion which is becoming increasingly common for student athletes.

“A lot of people on our high-school team play club, and it kind of exhausts them, but they also get more practice. I would not be in favor of allowing athletes to play in both just because of the possible injuries and over-exhaustion,” multi-athlete, senior Omar Lutfiyev said.

An additional factor that competitive athletes need to consider in the equation is their long term career goals, such as playing in college or professionally. While there is no debate that high school sports can be competitive, playing club offers many opportunities that high school sports lack.

“A lot of people for at least my school tried out for the club team,” Lutfiyev said. “Some chose high school instead because of the friendships and connections, but most play club because it gives more opportunities such as scouting.”

Essentially, being a multi-sport athlete in different environments has it’s positives and negatives, but putting excessive pressure on student athletes should not be enforced, even if it allows them to have more opportunities in their athletic journey.