Homeschool Sports Eligibility in Illinois
Usually no. Illinois has no law giving homeschoolers a right to public school sports, and the state athletic association lets a homeschooler play only by enrolling part time at the member high school, if that school agrees.
How homeschool participation works
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) runs high school sports and treats a homeschooled student as a private school student. To play for a member school, the student has to attend it, which IHSA By-law 3.011 defines as enrolling there and carrying a set course load toward that school's graduation credit.
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) answers the sports question with "In most cases, no." Whether a school accepts homeschoolers on IHSA's terms is the school's own decision, so two neighboring districts can answer differently.
When a school says no, club teams, park district leagues, and homeschool athletic groups set their own rules for who can join.
Rules that decide participation
One course at the school
Your child takes and passes at least one credit-bearing course at the member school.
Total course load
Your child carries at least 25 credit hours of work in total, counting courses in a program the school approves, for which the school grants graduation credit.
Every semester
The course load applies every week and every semester, not only during the sport's season, and you pay any tuition and fees the school charges.
Before the season
First step
Ask the principal or athletic director of your local public high school whether it enrolls homeschoolers part time under By-law 3.011, and get the answer in writing.
When to start
Arrange part-time enrollment in the school's normal enrollment window for the semester before the season, since the course load has to be in place first.
School that fits around the season
Lessons start at your child's level and go wherever practice and travel do. We grade the work as it is submitted and keep the grades and transcript a school or league may ask to see.
$149/month per child after the trial.