The fate of Mississippi High School Activities Association fall sports might be decided next Tuesday. That is when the MHSAA Executive Committee will meet to determine what adjustments may be necessary to begin the fall season in light of the COVID-19 epidemic.
“Hopefully we will know for sure what we want to do,” MHSAA executive director Don Hinton said last week following a meeting of the 15-member Executive Committee. He said there was no consensus at that meeting. The Committee is made up of school administrators from throughout the state.
“Pretty much everything was discussed from proceeding as currently scheduled, to delaying the start of the fall sports seasons and shortening game schedules, to even switching fall sports to the spring. Obviously, each of these changes have different levels of impact.
“There’s been talk about moving football to the spring, but there are a lot of different issues with implementing that scenario,” Hinton explained. “Our committee knows spring sports were cut short in March. What happens if the COVID situation leads to a shutdown in the fall and those students end up missing two consecutive seasons? So we have to look at the impact across the board.
“We’ll continue to get input from our Sports Medicine Advisory Committee,” He said. “We’ll also communicate with officials from the state departments of Education and Health as well as keeping up with reports from the Governor’s office. Our Executive Committee wants to have as much information as possible before any changes are instituted to the fall sports calendar. We are committed to having all of our sports seasons and championships if at all possible.”
The MHSAA 2020-21 sports calendar allows practice to begin July 27 for volleyball, cross country and swimming and Aug. 3 for football.
MHSAA has a policy that there are no athletics and activities if there are no classes.
“I want us to do as much as we can do. At the same time we want to stay safe,” said Kosciusko athletic director Macy Wilbanks. “Obviously, we don’t want to risk peoples’ health.”
She said athletics are important to the school district and its students. “I hope we get to play in some form or fashion. Whenever that is, I’m not sure. It’s a tough decision. I’m glad I don’t have to make it.”
Wilbanks said moving football to the spring would be feasible, but she said, “It would have its complications. I’m sure there would be challenges we would have to deal with if that were to happen.”
It would probably mean moving some spring sports, such as baseball, to the fall. McAdams athletic director Kenyon Ross said that would be difficult for small schools like his, a 1A school.
“I don’t think baseball would want to move. We would have a problem because of the number of students we have.”
Ross said it would be better to delay the start of fall sports until September. “That would give us a little more time to get things straightened out.”
Wilbanks also feels that delaying the beginning of the season is a possibility. “I can see that happening. Just like any change, it’s going to have its complications. It’s something we would have to deal with. I just hope we have something to deal with. We just want to play.”
“So far, so good. We’re following the guidelines,” Ross said.
MHSAA allowed schools to begin summer workouts June 1, with strict safety precautions. Wilbanks and Ross both said workouts are going well.
“The crazy thing is, I don’t know how to prepare,” said Ethel High School Principal Culley Newman. “Nobody does. Everybody (at Ethel) has their fields ready and softball and baseball are both getting some workouts in.
“My gut (instinct) is that nothing is going to change,” Newman said. “I think they are too many tentacles going in different directions because so many schools rely on football revenues to fund their athletic programs. And I’m talking about the big schools. If you put (football) in the spring that will affect all of your programs.”
He was also wary of not starting the season until September, because most of the MHSAA Class 1A schools actually begin region play in August due to number of schools in each region.
While he said he felt like there would be no major changes, he quickly admitted he has no inside information and also said the hesitance of the committee to have already made a decision was eye-opening.
“The fact that they just didn’t come out and say they were going to keep it the way it is does give me some pause,” Newman said. “Whatever they do, we will adjust.”
Eupora principal Adam Dillinger is a member of the Executive Committee. “Our goal is to make sure we can have our athletics and activities for our kids around the state,” he said. “The main thing will be health and safety of our student athletes.”
He would not speculate on what action the committee might take. “We’re still unsure of what will happen. A lot of numbers could change for good or bad between now and then.”
Hinton said he has been in contact with officials from other state organizations, including Tennessee, which will not begin football and girls soccer on time following the June 29 extension of a state emergency by Governor Bill Lee. The extension now runs through Aug. 29, eight days after the first scheduled high school football games.
