If there are high school sports this fall, the season will begin on September 14.
The MIAA Board of Directors unanimously approved a recommendation submitted by the association’s Task Force COVID-19 to delay the Massachusetts high school fall sports season to September 14 on Tuesday during a virtual meeting.
Although the MIAA has set a date for when formal practices can begin, what sports can be practiced, if any, this fall will be decided by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Executive Office for Environmental Affairs and the Governor’s Office. Charlie Baker.
DESE Commissioner Jeff Riley said during Tuesday’s meeting that the department plans to release updated guidelines in early August. The MIAA Board of Directors unanimously approved a recommendation during Tuesday’s meeting stating that the association will meet future guidelines.
“If we can do sports, we would certainly like to do it, but only if it can be done safely,” Riley said. “That may mean that we have to change sports. I’m not really sure. We really have to make some decisions about what athletics might be like.
“We recognize that sports are something that sometimes start before the school year begins and people are eager for information. But we really just want to make sure we do a thorough process, take our time and use the best medical information available to make sure that if we get sports back safely and what those modifications would be like. “
If Massachusetts decides to move forward with the current youth sports guidelines released on July 6, soccer, football and competition could not compete as they fall into the “high risk” category, but the guidelines are subject to change.
After approval of the recommendation that delayed the start of the fall season, the subcommittee’s third and final recommendation was that the BOD meet again three business days after the EEA and DESE published their guidelines for the fall K- 12 and youth sports to discuss the fall season and consider additional recommendations from the COVID-19 Working Group.
“We will meet as quickly as possible to meet (after the launch of the DESE and EEA guidelines) and in front of the board to give everyone a better idea for fall sports,” said team co-chair Thom Holdgate.
In the future, the Task Force has more work to do.
The subcommittee will continue to review the COVID-19 general health and safety guidelines developed by the MIAA Sports Medicine Committee once it is complete and will make a recommendation regarding the fall sports season and beyond when the joint guidelines are published. from EEA and DESE. The subcommittee will also work toward a recommendation on how educational athletics can be leveraged as a support for social / emotional learning if schools are in a remote learning model for the 2020-2021 school year.
Riley noted that DESE has asked state school districts to choose one of three plans to advance the new school year regarding education; In-person learning, remote learning or a hybrid model. Riley noted that the deadline for schools to make these decisions is August 10, four days before MIAA’s plan to start the fall sports season.
Districts that had an education plan in place before fall sports began was important to the districts and the Task Force during the process of proposing the proposed start date for August 14.
Thom Holdgate, who serves as co-chair of MIAA Task Force COVID-19, said the subcommittee has been very mindful of what other northeastern states are doing with their protocols regarding the “replay” recommendations. ”
High school games in New Jersey can start on October 1 for most sports, with the regular soccer season starting on October 2, while New York has set its start date for teams to start. to practice until September 21.
Going through the process of receiving administrator feedback in the past few weeks, the Task Force sent a survey to superintendents, principals, athletic directors, coaches, and athletic trainers and received more than 1,000 responses. All respondents agreed that the health and safety of student athletes and staff is of the highest priority for any return to play and that the mental health of student athletes is also a priority in addition to returning to school.
“The information we are gathering and are still analyzing is really helpful to us as we continue,” said MIAA Associate Executive Director Sherry Bryant, who is also part of the working group.
