FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 20, 2020

The Board of Control held a virtual Zoom meeting Thursday morning, affirming its July position by a 16-2 vote to begin practice for fall sports on August 24th with competition starting the week of September 7th. The Board considered two other motions during the meeting, both of which would have delayed the start of the fall seasons to varying degrees, but neither motion received enough support for adoption.

The fall sports of Field Hockey, Soccer, Volleyball, Cross Country, and Football can begin official practice August 24, with a restriction of 7.5 hours of practice during the first week (as previously approved by the Board) and full practice starting Monday, August 31.

“We hope to submit practice revisions early Friday following the Board’s approval, which will hopefully be relatively minimal. If approved to expand numbers and activity, it will hopefully bring a more normal look to some practices while still emphasizing social distancing, hand washing, and masking/face coverings everywhere possible and practical,” said KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett. “It will be imperative that teams continue with small cohorts in every feasible situation as that is vital to contact tracing in the event of a confirmed case.

“It is critical that we expand as slowly as possible and our programs not press the accelerator too quickly. Certainly, no one should expect teams to be in postseason form in their first game and if administrators and coaches don’t feel like this slower progression is in their best interests, they need to wait to start contests. The KHSAA doesn’t direct teams to play, we only define the allowable times for play. We will plan on the submission of contest documents very early next week and will remain available to discuss any of those provisions with (the powers that be).”

The Board of Control also addressed the postseason region schedules for Competitive Cheer and Dance, both of which are classified in the highest risk categories as defined by various sports medicine authorities, approving a recommendation to reschedule the regional dates for later in the winter. Following the Board’s action, the division declarations for both sport-activities shall be submitted on or before Monday, Nov. 9. The Competitive Cheer Regionals are to be rescheduled for the weekends of Jan. 16th and 23rd, with the Dance Regionals set for the weekend of Feb. 13th, allowing both sport-activities flexibility in the case of weather or other types of postponement. State dates for Competitive Cheer and Dance will be set during the Board’s September meeting.

In other action Thursday, the Board:

• Approved a recommendation for a waiver for Bylaw 9 for the 2020-21 season only in response to Covid-19 participation concerns, allowing basketball student-athletes to compete in outside events and leagues up until the start of official practice;
• Authorized staff to submit competition plans for fall sports to KDE and KPHD, including competition limitations for individual sports;
• Reviewed a report from the KMA Sports Medicine Committee on Return to Play guidelines;
• Granted the Commissioner authority to coordinate the calling of a special Board meeting in the event of a statewide shutdown of interscholastic competition by the (powers that be) or the fall sport plan is not approved;
• Approved an expenditure by the Association to seek additional insurance coverage related to Covid-19.

https://khsaa.org/08-20-20-board-of-control-upholds-decision-to-begin-fall-sports-september-7/

I am very pleased! 

Just now, Cheese said:

I am very pleased! 

So far so good. 

I just hope it happens.

4 minutes ago, Tkinslow said:

I just hope it happens.

Right, all it really means is we haven't canceled yet and if we don't cancel this is the current plan. 

Probably really the next 10-15 days to hold our breath I think a final decision will be given to the KHSAA for fall sports by Friday Sept. 4 with the 7th being Labor Day. 

Major problem if schools go thru all the work and guidance to start hosting events on 9/7, then be told on 9/4 that it is again suspended.  Wasted time and money just like preparing for school and that being moved to 9/28 at the 11th hour. 
 

 

I am thankful that the KHSAA really considered the requests and concerns of the people who had contacted them.

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Hope it holds up and all teams stay as healthy as can be. It looks like most are taking the precautions seriously enough. For a lot of these kids, it literally is the last real chance to play team sports.

I hope for the kids sake that they get to play so long as safety protocols are adhered to.  I think in-person classes are still a bit away until 2021 at the earliest but it looks like teams around the state have done a good job getting ready and staying healthy.

16 hours ago, SouthSeas said:

Major problem if schools go thru all the work and guidance to start hosting events on 9/7, then be told on 9/4 that it is again suspended.  Wasted time and money just like preparing for school and that being moved to 9/28 at the 11th hour. 
 

 

CV-19 isn't going anywhere anytime soon at this point. The work will need to be done at some point in time, so time spent on doing it now, will at least get things going in the direction they need to be for whenever things resume, whether it's on 9/7 or some other date down the road.

I worry about when a player gets the virus will there be a panic effect? It's going to happen just hope the district or the school don't overreact. Will the entire team be in quarantine?  In Kentucky there has been 0 deaths from ages 9-25. 

22 minutes ago, tackle trap said:

I worry about when a player gets the virus will there be a panic effect? It's going to happen just hope the district or the school don't overreact. Will the entire team be in quarantine?  In Kentucky there has been 0 deaths from ages 9-25. 

That's an answer someone has to come up with that really hasn't been addressed. Since you can't effectively socially distance while playing football, if one person catches it, the whole team would be at risk, so cancelling pending testing, would probably be the likely answer.

1 hour ago, tackle trap said:

I worry about when a player gets the virus will there be a panic effect? It's going to happen just hope the district or the school don't overreact. Will the entire team be in quarantine?  In Kentucky there has been 0 deaths from ages 9-25. 

The million dollar question.  Vanderbilt just shutdown football due to multiple positives.  How will HS respond to an outbreak?