The N.C. High School Athletic Association notified its members July 15 that it will delay the start of the fall sports season until at least Sept. 1 due to the continuing coronavirus pandemic.
The decision was voted on and passed unanimously by the NCHSAA Board of Directors, according to a media release.
"For now, we believe these steps provide hope for our student athletes, and the possibility for playing fall sports We know that many decisions are being made relative to the reopening plan your school(s) will follow," NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker said in an email to membership July 15. "After each LEA has had an opportunity to formalize and finalize those reopening plans, the NCHSAA Staff will survey the membership to determine how sports should and/or can fit into the various models that will exist across the state."
The first five days of the school year will be designated as a dead period for all sports, including fall sports, allowing schools to focus on the start of the school year.
Phase one of the NCHSAA summer conditioning workouts will continue until further notice.
"I expected it," Reynolds football coach Shane Laws said. "It allows us and the NCHSAA to wrap our arms around this whole thing. We're all learning on the go on this. There was no way we were going to start on Aug. 1. We're a long way from kids being able to play four quarters of football."
Tucker said in her email to membership that the delayed start date is not “in cement” and can be delayed even further if COVID-19 numbers continue to spike.
"If we do not have improved data from DHHS, or some other reason exists for delaying further into September or beyond," Tucker wrote. "We acknowledge that playing certain sports are more problematic at any time without a vaccine; however, we remain in consultation with our Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) members, and they believe we can and should offer a sports program, with all necessary modifications, delays, etc."
Neil Blankenship, the athletic director and football coach at Swain County, is on the board of directors for the NCHSAA.
"We need to get schools going before anything else," Blankenship said. "It had to be done that way. We still have several counties that have not started workouts and we don't know how we're going to handle all the aspects of COVID-19 testing."
Blankenship said schools will need at least four football games to make a profit this season.
The Citizen Times requested home football gate receipts from the 29 local public high schools that offer varsity football. The ticket sales show that the 28 schools that filled the request generated more than $1.1 million of athletic funds solely from attendance at varsity football games.
More: A million dollar problem: Loss of football ticket sales would create financial chaos for WNC high schools
"I have not given up on playing football, but there are a lot of questions to answer," Blankenship said. "We're going to work our butt off to try and have a football season. What it's going to look like? I don't know yet."
Gov. Roy Cooper announced July 14 that all North Carolina public schools K-12 will be limited to 50% of their maximum capacity when they return on Aug. 17 while giving students an option for remote learning.
During a media briefing last week, N.C. High School Athletic Association Commissioner Que Tucker said that Plan B was "perhaps the most concerning" for high school sports to return. She said it presents a number of logistical issues with transportation, finances, safety, and resources.
"There are a lot of issues and there are a lot of concerns and challenges that we'll have to overcome to play sports, aside from just the ones that we think about first and foremost," Tucker said during the briefing.
Western Mountain Athletic Conference football coaches met last week and presented tentative plans for what a season could look like under all three of Cooper's school plans.
For Plan B, coaches presented an idea that would move the season back two months and eliminate three weeks of the regular season. The plan also eliminates the playoffs and allows for a postseason bowl game.
Another plan would eliminate five weeks of the regular season and modify the playoffs from five rounds to four.
The South Carolina High School League Executive Committee approved a proposal Wednesday to move the start of fall sports competition until at least September due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Under the approved plan, fall sports could begin as early as Sept. 1 or as late as Oct. 2. The proposal is for teams to play region games first, with the ability to add non-region contests later in the season.
The committee picked that proposal over another that would've moved football to early January and spring sports to the fall. It called for four 10-week sports seasons beginning in September.
It was voted down, 16-1, by the SCHSL Executive Committee.
Gate Receipts for WNC football in 2019
Full statement from NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker
“For now, we believe these steps provide hope for our student athletes, and the possibility for playing fall sports We know that many decisions are being made relative to the reopening plan your school(s) will follow. After each LEA has had an opportunity to formalize and finalize those reopening plans, the NCHSAA Staff will survey the membership to determine how sports should and/or can fit into the various models that will exist across the state. Please understand this delayed start date is not “in cement” and can be delayed even further if we do not have improved data from DHHS, or some other reason exists for delaying further into September or beyond.
We acknowledge that playing certain sports are more problematic at any time without a vaccine; however, we remain in consultation with our Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) members, and they believe we can and should offer a sports program, with all necessary modifications, delays, etc. In the coming weeks, we will continue working with the SMAC as we plan our next steps for the fall, as well as determining when equipment could be shared—i.e. balls— and/or if we can move into Phase 2 of the summer workouts/conditioning.
Each NCHSAA Board Member believes in the value of education-based athletics and is committed to SAFELY offering a fall, winter, and spring sports program during this school year; however, there is also a commitment to the health and safety of students and coaches. Towards this end, we all will continue to follow the guidance of the Department of Health and Human Services relative to the data and how we all safely move forward.
We are in this together, and we will play again!”
David Thompson is an award-winning reporter for the Citizen Times. He can be reached at dthompson@citizentimes.com, at 828-231-1747, or on Twitter at @acthshuddle.
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