Written Friday January 22nd at 10:30 AM
Updated Monday January 25th at 12:00 PM
Indoor contact sports remain banned in Michigan until February 21st.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services lifted indoor dining on February 1st but they extended the indoor contact sports ban according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services website.
The contact sports include basketball, hockey, cheerleading, and wrestling.
MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl was blindsided by the announcement from Whitmer and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Executive Joeniah Kalduhn. "We found out about the decision at 9:30 am just like everyone else and we will address it as quickly as possible after taking the weekend to collect more information. We did not anticipate this delay in winter contact practices and competition and today's announcement has created many new questions" said Uyl.
This is the third time that Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has extended the order surrounding contact sports. Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has not done a good job addressing the emotional and mental health of these winter student athletes.
"Obviously this is disappointing to thousands of athletes who have been training with their teams over the last week and watching teams in other states around Michigan play for the last two months" Uyl concluded.
The MDHHS sent out a statement on Monday explaining why these sports are still on pause. "We are pleased to continue incrementally reopen the economy with the recent MDHHS order. Counties across the country have faced outbreaks of COVID-19 associated with sports teams. In Michigan there were 42 outbreaks (K-12, professional, collegiate, and commercial venues) in August and September 2020 before restrictions on contact sports and MDHHS and local health departments are still identifying outbreaks on teams that are currently playing. Outbreaks of this magnitude have the potential to affect not just a sports team but the entire community in which the players and coach resides as well. Sports that require frequent closeness between players make it more difficult to prevent disease transmission compared to sports that are not as close to each other. The risk of COVID-19 transmission is increased by the number of individuals as a player physically interacts with as well as the duration of that interaction. The arrival of the new B.1.1.1.7 variant also means even more caution must be taken so we avoid the rapid rise in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths that other countries have experienced. Even with mitigation measures in place such as wearing of masks, disease transmission can not be completely prevented when players are in prolonged or intense contact. Sports like football, basketball, rugby, field hockey, soccer, lacrosse, wrestling, hockey, futsal, and martial arts with opponents. These risks are even greater for indoor contact sports where there is not natural ventilation to mitigate the close proximity of participants. Teams that can implement robust public health measures may be able to decrease risk but risk remains elevated. We will continue to carefully watch the data to assess what other activities can be permitted. We are also laser focused on achieving our goal of vaccinating at least 70 percent of Michiganders ages 16 and up as quickly as possible so we can end this pandemic and get back to a sense of normalcy."
It wouldn't surprise anyone if lawsuits happen against Whitmer and MDHHS.
We shall see what happens but Whitmer and the MDHHS have failed these student-athletes again.
The MHSAA and the Representative Council will meet again next week to adjust the schedules.
It makes me wonder if there is anyone in Lansing that is fighting for our student-athletes???
Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing story.
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