MHSAA cancels Winter and Spring Sports.

Written Thursday April 2nd at 12:00 PM
Updated Friday April 3rd at 2:00 PM

The season is over.

The MHSAA canceled the winter and spring sports seasons on Friday to comply with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's state of disaster order due to COVID-19.

"We are heartbroken to not be able to provide these opportunities for Michigan student athletes and especially seniors. We continue to hear from dozens asking us to hold out hope but safety always must come first and Governor Whitmer is making courageous decisions to safeguard the people of this state" said MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl.

The district and regional titles will stand but spring sports will not have a season which will impact many people. "We understand as much as anyone how much school sports mean to athletes and their communities. We had ideas and hopes for finishing winter and spring (sports) and helping to bring normalcy after this long break but this is the correct decision and we will play our part in bringing schools and communities together again when the time is right." Uyl concluded.

This will be the first time since 1942-1943 that there will be no finals competition when World War II broke out.

Whitmer signed an executive order on Thursday suspending all K-12 schools effective immediately or unless the restrictions in place are lifted.

“For the sake of our students, their families, and the more than 100,000 teachers and staff in our state, I have made the difficult decision to close our school facilities for the remainder of the school year” Whitmer said in a tweet on Twitter.

Whitmer gave hints in her order to close K-12 schools on Thursday. “K-12 school sports activities and other in person extracurricular activities are suspended while any state of emergency or state of disaster prompted by COVID-19 is in effect.”

The state of emergency in the state was declared on March 24^th. Whitmer closed the schools on March 12^th with the MHSAA suspending everything in compliance with her order. She asked the state legislature to extend that order. Under state law a state of emergency can only last 28 days. It would expire on April 22^nd.

The state of disaster order expires on June 9^th.

All seniors will be given an opportunity to graduate this year.

Michigan is under a “Stay at Home” order by Whitmer that is set to expire on April 13^th however that order could be extended as COVID-19 cases and deaths have risen in the last three weeks.

Thoughts

I feel really bad for the seniors who won’t have a chance to have a chance to compete, have a prom, or walk the aisle for graduation. Also those who do spring sports and have saw their season’s come to an abrupt end.

It wasn’t a surprise that Whitmer did what she did, she did what was best for the health of the kids. Also Uyl following in line with what Whitmer did.

Stay tuned to OAA Now and the Inside the OAA blog for the latest on this developing story.

Here is Whitmer's Order

https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/MIEOG/2020/04/02/file_attachments/1417518/EO%202020-35.pdf

Here is the Press Release from MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl.
https://www.mhsaa.com/News/Press-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9062/MHSAA-Cancels-Remainder-of-2019-20-Winter-Spring-Seasons  

Uyl Video Release.
https://www.mhsaa.com/Portals/0/video%20files/Suspend/April%203.mp4?ver=2020-04-03-141248-303