Prairie State Wire

While Gov. J.B. Pritzker has used his executive authority to cancel high school sports for kids across the state this fall, apparently this rule does not apply to his daughter.

Parents have been rallying across the state and at the state capital in an attempt to have the football season reinstated. 

Meanwhile, Pritzker’s 18-year-old daughter, Theodora "Teddi" Pritzker, who formerly attended Francis W. Parker in Chicago, has continued to engage in equestrian sports across the country since the state was locked down, including in Illinois.

Teddi is the only daughter of Illinois' billionaire first family. She jumps horses competitively in the Medium Junior division with Team Welles and is featured on the team’s website. 

A Sept. 10 post on the team’s Facebook page celebrated a second place finish in the American Gold Cup. 

Only six days after Teddi’s second-place finish Pritzker announced fall sports were canceled. 

The team’s Facebook and Instagram pages are filled with posts going back years promoting Teddi’s finishes all accompanied by a photo of Teddi atop her horse without a mask. 

Teddi’s behavior flies in the face of Pritzker’s order against reinstating the Illinois high school athletic season. Pritzker has also said residents should always wear masks when outside. In fact, he was behind a poorly received $5 million taxpayer advertising campaign aimed at getting Illinoisans to wear masks. 

Since the lockdown Teddi has been very active, including in Illinois where she competed in an event at the Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, well into the lockdown in June. 

A video posted one week ago shows Teddi competing in the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival in Traverse County, Mich., two weeks ago she competed in the Silver Oak Jumper Tournament in Burlington, Mass. and three months ago she was jumping in Lexington, Ky. Six months ago, just as her father was shutting down the state, Teddi competed in the Winter Equestrian Festival in Palm Beach, Fla. 

When it comes to the Pritzkers at large, apparently what is fine for family is not fine for the rest of the state. 

Earlier this year it was revealed first lady Mary Pritzker and the rest of the family opted to ride out the pandemic at the family's $12 million Florida estate in Wellington, where Team Welles is based. In stark contrast to Illinois, Florida was one of the first states to reopen after the lockdown.