Traditional fall high school sports such as football may be the first to return to play. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Everything changes. Again.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Executive Board voted Wednesday to redo its planned 2020-2021 school athletic schedule, moving traditional fall sports back in front.
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there have been no prep games in the state played in nearly 11 months, in any sport, and the plans to return to play have been constantly-changing.
Up until Wednesday night, winter sports such as basketball were set to possibly be the first ones back.
But, after new guidelines were set in place earlier this week by Governor Jay Inslee and the state Health Department, the WIAA opted to flip things.
Again.
“The change in guidelines allow all traditional fall sports to be played while we still do not have a clear pathway to the high-risk indoor activities of basketball, competitive cheer and dance, and wrestling,” said WIAA Executive Director Mick Hoffman.
“With that in mind, moving fall sports to Season 1 will hopefully provide the most opportunities to participate.”
The new plan is for fall sports to begin practices Feb. 1, with a shortened season ending March 20.
Season 2 (March 15-May 1) and Season 3 (April 26-June 12) remain on the schedule as before, though it’s unclear if traditional winter sports will follow, or whether spring sports will leapfrog them.
Some more clarification is expected after the WIAA Executive Board meets Jan. 19.
“We are hoping to receive more details that were not included in the Governor’s announcement on Tuesday, particularly surrounding indoor sports and activities,” Hoffman said.
“As we continue to gather more information and evaluate the new metrics, the board will be able to make better decisions about the remainder of the year.”
The move to flip fall sports back in front would seem to indicate the possible return of football, cross country, volleyball, boys tennis, and boys and girls soccer for Coupeville High School.
But, and this is a huge BUT, while the WIAA is providing a “uniform season schedule concluding in regional culminating events, it has granted each league or district around the state the ability to reschedule seasons to best fit their local communities.”
Any decision from the Athletic Directors of the Northwest 2B/1B League will likely have to come soon, but no time frame for a decision has been announced.
Part of that decision hinges on implementation of the new guidelines — Healthy Washington – Roadmap to Recovery — which divides the state into eight regions.
Island County is now linked with Whatcom, Skagit, and San Juan Counties (but not Snohomish, which includes Darrington, one of Coupeville’s league foes) in the North Region.
There will be two phases in the plan, with all regions beginning in Phase 1 next Monday, Jan. 11.
To move from Phase 1 to Phase 2, a region needs to meet four metrics:
**10-percent decline in COVID-19 case rates over the past two weeks.
**10-percent decrease in COVID-19 hospital admission over the past two weeks.
**ICU occupancy under 90 percent.
**Test positivity less than 10 percent.
If a region is in Phase 2, all outdoor sports, including “high-risk” ones such as football, can play games.
Indoor sports classified as “medium-risk,” such as volleyball, can also play, but “high-risk” indoor sports like basketball can not.
It is currently unknown what a region will have to do to reach an as-yet unknown Phase 3 under the new plan, which would allow “high-risk” indoor sports to play.
It’s also unknown if any fans will be allowed to attend games if fall sports really do start Feb. 1.
Which shouldn’t be a surprise.
In this Age of Coronavirus, just remember, with each 1% of clarification comes another 99% of “I have no freakin’ clue.”
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