High school administrators at Kosciusko, McAdams and Ethel High Schools were left scrambling for answers to a lot of pressing questions after Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves issued an executive order on Friday severely restricting attendance at school activities, including athletic events. The order is set to expire Aug. 31, but is subject to an extension into September.
The order states “Attendance shall be limited to two attendees per student participating in the event,” or all K-12 indoor and outdoor activities, For a football game, that would include players, band members and cheerleaders, but not coaches, directors, teachers, officials, medical personnel, staff and media.
The order also requires a dedicated safety officer “to ensure that all limitations contained in this Executive Order are observed and enforced.”
Face masks are required at indoor and outdoor events for all spectators, employees, staff and volunteers.
As currently written, the order would not apply to regular season Mississippi High School Activities Association football games. MHSAA has pushed back the beginning of the season until Sept. 4. But it would apply to scrimmages permitted Aug. 28, and to early season volleyball matches and cross country meets. Those sports can begin competition Aug. 24.
If the order is extended, Kosciusko athletic director Macy Wilbanks said it will limit fan attendance. “It will change the way we sell tickets. We will have to develop a process to get tickets to the visiting teams so it will work for them as well as for our fans.
“I know we have to be safe, but it’s not as much fun with a small crowd. We would love to have as many people as we can. But we’re going to do everything we can to make sure everyone is safe.”
Kosciusko has a scrimmage at East Webster Aug. 28, plays at Winona Sept. 4 and has its first home game Sept. 11 with Grenada.
The first scheduled match for the volleyball team is Aug. 31 at Starkville, followed by a home match Sept. 3 with Louisville.
“The place where it is going to be hurt with sports like volleyball is when a child might have parents there, siblings and her grandparents,” Wilbanks said. “Now she is only going to have two of those people.”
McAdams athletic director Kenyon Ross said the order might not affect his school, even if it is extended into September, because the Bulldogs currently have only one home game on the schedule, and that one is iffy. Four other scheduled home games have been eliminated, Ray Brooks because the school closed and Leflore County, McEvans and West Bolivar because those schools will not be playing fall sports due to the pandemic.
That leaves an Oct. 23 home game with Simmons – maybe. The Hollandale School Board was scheduled to meet Tuesday evening to decide if Simmons will have fall sports this year.
Ethel has a home scrimmage with J.Z. George Aug. 28, followed by home games with Hamilton Sept. 4 and McAdams Sept. 11.
“We’re going to abide by the order. We’re going to control who comes to our ball games,” said Ethel principal Culley Newman. “If the order stays in place, it’s going to be a financial hit for football for sure and for all sports.”
A growing number of Mississippi school districts have canceled fall athletics. The list includes many districts in the Delta and Jackson Public Schools, the state's largest district with seven high schools.
MHSAA includes 240 high schools and all but 10 (mostly small schools in Northeast Mississippi) play football. Even with the districts that have decided against football this year, MHSAA executive director Don Hinton noted that the vast majority will be playing the sport and he said there will not be any changes in region alignment.
MHSAA has published guidelines on its website (www.misshsaa.com) that includes no mask, no entry and availability of hand sanitizer stations.
The website also has “Practice Reminders for the Sport of Football,” requiring immersion tubs during August. During the first two weeks of practice full contact will be limited to 120 minutes. Beginning the third week, contact is limited to 90 minutes per week, excluding games, and will continue until the last contest. In the event of an open week 120 minutes of full contact will be allowed.
