There are a lot of happy 7th and 8th grade athletes in Illinois now that junior high sports is back.
After canceling the fall activities of golf, softball, baseball, and cross-country for 2020 season during their meeting on July 23, the Illinois Elementary School Association board of directors reversed that decision a week later. Following in the footsteps of the Illinois High School Association, who announced a major schedule change of sports seasons in response to the strict parameters set by the governor and Illinois' public health department, the IESA approved a plan for the return of regular-season contests in these three sports with a limited post-season championship.
Baseball, softball and cross-country teams are cleared to start practice on August 3 and can play in their first game or contest on starting on August 15. All meets and games previously schedule on or before the 15th must be canceled or rescheduled. The new plan also limits team to a maximum of two contests per week with no tournaments or events with more than three teams. Baseball can play three games a week if one contest is a doubleheader.
In its official release, the association stressed that "It is a very fluid plan and circumstances/guidelines/mandates may change any part of the plan at any time."
The board also approved a modified plan for for all remaining junior high sports and activities. The plan is a blueprint providing schools, administrators, coaches, parents, and officials with information to plan for the remainder of the athletic and academic year.
Incorporated into the changes, winter sports will run from January through March. Competition for boys basketball, girls volleyball, wrestling, and cheerleading would be played during this period.
Spring sports, which will include girls basketball, boys and girls bowling, and boys and girls track and field, will start in February and end in May.
The fall post-season will include a regional-only level of the state series for softball and baseball to be held the week of September 21 and a sectional-only for cross-country sometime between October 10-17. Golf will have a sectional tournament on Wednesday, September 9.
Baseball, softball and cross-country teams are cleared to start practice on August 3 and can play in their first game or contest on starting on August 15. All meets and games previously schedule on or before the 15th must be canceled or rescheduled. The new plan also limits team to a maximum of two contests per week with no tournaments or events with more than three teams. Baseball can play three games a week if one contest is a doubleheader.
In its official release, the association stressed that "It is a very fluid plan and circumstances/guidelines/mandates may change any part of the plan at any time."
The board also approved a modified plan for for all remaining junior high sports and activities. The plan is a blueprint providing schools, administrators, coaches, parents, and officials with information to plan for the remainder of the athletic and academic year.
Incorporated into the changes, winter sports will run from January through March. Competition for boys basketball, girls volleyball, wrestling, and cheerleading would be played during this period.
Spring sports, which will include girls basketball, boys and girls bowling, and boys and girls track and field, will start in February and end in May.
The fall post-season will include a regional-only level of the state series for softball and baseball to be held the week of September 21 and a sectional-only for cross-country sometime between October 10-17. Golf will have a sectional tournament on Wednesday, September 9.
Next, picking up where we left off, we need to talk about liquidity.
To keep it simple, liquidity is how easily an asset can be bought and/or sold. Another way to think about liquidity is how easily the asset can be turned into cash. The stock market has a clear advantage in terms of liquidity, but it still warrants a discussion.
Stocks are very liquid. In fact, stocks are so liquid that last summer, I was able to sell Amazon for $1,800/share, Tesla for $250/share, and Zoom for $85/share without Robinhood tapping me on the shoulder and saying, “You might not want to do that …”
Those companies now trade for $3,300/share, $1,700/share, and $275/share, respectively, and I still live in my parent’s basement.
I don’t tell that story to downplay liquidity because having quick access to your capital is advantageous in many scenarious; however, I tell that story to highlight how liquidity makes it easy for an investor to make emotional, rash, and in my case, downright stupid decisions. At that time, I did not have the trading savvy or financial discipline to hold a stock for more than a year.
All in all, if you value having easy access to your capital and have the financial discipline to manage that liquidity, then the stock market will better suit you.
Real estate, on the other hand, is a relatively illiquid investment. Whenever you want to pull money out via a refinance or cash out of the investment via a sale, then there is going to be a process that you must follow. The process will likely take a few months. Depending on the transaction, you could fall on either side of that timeline; however, it doesn’t take seconds like it does with stocks. If you don’t need your capital in the short-term, then real estate investing will be a great option for you.
Another important criteria is asset diversification. Diversification is the act of placing your investments in a variety of asset types, industries, etc. so that your exposure to any one asset type is limited.
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