ROCHELLE — The coronavirus pandemic has brought athletics around the world to a standstill, as professional, collegiate and high school organizations implement measures to contain the spread and enforce social distancing guidelines.

The crisis has also affected youth organizations like Rochelle Little League, which has suspended all activities until May 11 in cooperation with recommendations published by the international Little League Baseball & Softball entity this past month. While the 2020 season has been put on hold, local board members including vice president Roman Villalobos are hopeful that Little League players will be able to return to action when the suspension ends next month.

“We’re waiting on additional information from the international board of directors on player eligibility and tournament participation,” Villalobos said. “We’re waiting to see if the suspension will be extended any longer, and we’re also waiting on more information about the best way to resume operations once we receive clarification on when we can start practicing.”

Sign-ups are still open for Rochelle Little League, and Villalobos said that numbers have been steadily increasing since sign-ups were extended this past month. If the 2020 season were to be canceled, Villalobos said those who signed their athletes up to play would receive either a refund or a credit toward next season. Parents and guardians who haven’t signed their athletes up can register them online at https://www.rochellelittleleague.com.

“It’s bigger than sports,” Villalobos said. “The No. 1 concern right now is the health and safety of our kids. We have hundreds of kids who want to get out and throw the ball around, but we have to wait this thing out and hopefully get through this soon so we can get back out there.”

Because the tryout and evaluation process was interrupted by the suspension, Villalobos said that all registered athletes will be subject to a blind draft. However, due to both the suspension and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s shelter-in-place order, a draft date has not been scheduled. The 2020 season had been scheduled to begin April 20, with Opening Day coming May 2.

Any further updates from Little League Baseball & Softball regarding coronavirus suspensions or cancellations can be seen at https://www.littleleague.org/coronavirus. Updates from Rochelle Little League will be posted online or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RochelleLittleLeague.

“We were a few days away from doing our last tryout and we were going to have the draft later that day,” Villalobos said. “If we ever get to the draft, it’s going to be a blind draft so we can get the kids playing as soon as possible. We’ve never been in this kind of situation, but the best we can do is play the season by ear and get as much done as we can for the kids.”