Will we see sports this fall???
There have been a ton of conflicting reports lately and also
school districts have cancelled athletics and other extra circular activities
for the fall season.
In College Football, the Mid-American Conference cancelled
their season and the Big Ten could be on the verge of cancelling theirs in wake
of this coronavirus outbreak.
Now it has trickled down to the high school game as well.
The Lansing School district decided that for the health and
safety of everyone that they will call off athletics and extra circular activities
according to MLive’s Jared Purcell.
In another article according to Matt Mowery of State Champs,
he said that Southfield was considering the same thing although no decision had
been made.
If schools make the decision about their districts not
having fall sports it could not only have major consequences for the health and
wellbeing of student athletes but for other conferences as well.
Most if not all schools should start their fall semester
online in my opinion.
If Southfield were to cancel their fall sports schedule it
would hurt the OAA. It could create a ripple effect and could possibly force a breakup
of the league.
The coronavirus outbreak could force major mega conferences
to break up in favor of smaller conferences based on travel.
The MHSAA made a decision in July to keep the sports
structure as is and start the season on time but added four contingency plans
to the mix if coronavirus cases go up in Michigan.
Last week the league went with a phases approach with the
low risk sports in boys tennis, girls golf, girls swimming and diving, and
cross country starting up on Wednesday while high/moderate risk sports like
football, volleyball, and boys soccer will start their practices this week as
well but the MHSAA said a decision will not be made on those sports until
August 20th.
Most of Michigan remain in Phase Four under Governor
Gretchen Whitmer’s economic return plan but the Upper Peninsula and most of
northwest and part of northeast Lower Michigan are in Phase Five.
In Phase Four of Whitmer’s plan indoor gyms are not allowed
which greatly impacts volleyball and girls swimming and diving. Those sports
are expected to practice outdoors.
It will be interesting in the next two weeks will be
critical to see what happens in regards to fall sports but school districts and
especially school boards have already went ahead with their plans.
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