Corona and spring sports

[gopher2]

Since some of us also coach a spring sport, how are your administrations and athletic departments preparing? The first competition dates for track and softball are March 23.  Other than schools that are already shut down, are your schools setting any procedures for practice times/s or other issues.  Cancelling any early season contests with specific opponents?

[Guest]

As an official, I have not received any cancellations.

Very fluid situation so I would presume things may/will change.

[LCKfan4life]

If  Spring sports do cancel, let's take baseball for instance. Is there anything preventing players and coaches from meeting another local team and playing at a non school facility? No team buses, get there on your own, and not mandatory. Teams would not have to wear any uniform provided by the school, or use any school purchased equipment. Obviously it would not be a sanctioned contest, but would allow players to still compete. 

[Impartial_Observer]

I'm curious if we have any administrators that read this board what their feeling is. My thoughts are after seeing the NCAA's move yesterday, after you lose the cash cow, cutting the losers gets real easy. NAIA has cancelled their winter sports tournaments, but are waiting on spring sports. My guess is this lies more in the hands of the principals/superintendents, and the IHSAA will take their cue from them. 

Personally I think I'll be doing more fishing this spring than any spring in recent memory.

[Irishman]

13 hours ago, LCKfan4life said:

If  Spring sports do cancel, let's take baseball for instance. Is there anything preventing players and coaches from meeting another local team and playing at a non school facility? No team buses, get there on your own, and not mandatory. Teams would not have to wear any uniform provided by the school, or use any school purchased equipment. Obviously it would not be a sanctioned contest, but would allow players to still compete. 

Coaches? That would be an absolute no for them to do this. If a restriction comes from the IHSAA, coaches would face discipline from them. And if a coach faces discipline from them, you can guarantee he will from his school’s administration.....players and parents? Possibly, but to even gain access to the team’s equipment (bats, balls, helmets, catcher’s gear) would be a problem for a coach. If kids have their own stuff, then they might be able to pull it off. 

[wabashalwaysfights]

This whole thing has become a mess to say the least. The biggest issue I see is with schools that are issuing 14 day quarantines how do you keep track of/monitor who has eligibility and who does not. The IHSAA would have to come out with something soon, especially after the NCAA's decision yesterday and the various states which are mandating extended e-learning and mass school closures. Definitely very fluid and with folks leaving or already gone on Spring Break it makes it even more difficult.

13 hours ago, LCKfan4life said:

If  Spring sports do cancel, let's take baseball for instance. Is there anything preventing players and coaches from meeting another local team and playing at a non school facility? No team buses, get there on your own, and not mandatory. Teams would not have to wear any uniform provided by the school, or use any school purchased equipment. Obviously it would not be a sanctioned contest, but would allow players to still compete. 

Impossible for track meets, takes too many volunteers to adequately run a meet. Also an insurance nightmare.

[Sailors]

I believe Gov. Holcomb announced yesterday that school corporations have 20 days to give for quarantine purposes and will not be required to make up those days.

[Impartial_Observer]

Indiana High School Athletic Association

To:  Member School Principals and Athletic Administrators From:  Bobby Cox, Commissioner Re:  IHSAA Spring Sports Update   Good morning.  In light of concerns surrounding COVID-19 respective of IHSAA spring sports, I would like to provide the following considerations and clarity. Regular season contests are conducted at the discretion of our member schools.  Currently, the guidance being provided by the State of Indiana allows for events with less than 250 individuals in attendance to be conducted.  Local jurisdiction shall prevail with regard to whether contests in the regular season are conducted. Some schools in our state have closed and will implement extended break periods.  Once students return to school, all provisions of Rule 9-14 - Practice Attendance to Participate in a Contest shall be enforced.  This health and safety measure within the by-laws will not be waived.  Should a previously scheduled contest fall before the completion of said separate days of practice, the contest must be rescheduled or cancelled. A decision on meeting a minimum number of contests to become eligible for IHSAA tournament series events will be made at a later date. At this time, the IHSAA is planning on staging all spring sport tournament series events as scheduled. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office at your convenience.

[Lysander]

My understanding is that Chatard is now on e-learning with all games and practices suspended through, at least, April 11. 

Cant speak to other schools.

[JustRules]

Just because championships are cancelled (NCAA or NFHS state associations) doesn't mean the regular seasons for those competitions are cancelled. Especially in NCAA I expect they cancelled all championship events because the funding they would have used to pay for them is likely lost with the cancellation of the basketball tournament. March Madness is 80% of the revenue for the NCAA and they exist to regulate policies and conduct championships. They don't do anything with the regular season or conference tournaments.

[Impartial_Observer]

58 minutes ago, JustRules said:

Just because championships are cancelled (NCAA or NFHS state associations) doesn't mean the regular seasons for those competitions are cancelled. Especially in NCAA I expect they cancelled all championship events because the funding they would have used to pay for them is likely lost with the cancellation of the basketball tournament. March Madness is 80% of the revenue for the NCAA and they exist to regulate policies and conduct championships. They don't do anything with the regular season or conference tournaments.

Big Ten has suspended all athletic activities until 4/6 and will re-evaluate at that time. Assuming other conferences are taking similar measures.

Edited March 13, 2020 by Impartial_Observer

[foxbat]

Indiana High School Dance Team Association cancelled their state championships that were supposed to take place at Lafayette Jeff this weekend.

[JustRules]

1 hour ago, Impartial_Observer said:

Big Ten has suspended all athletic activities until 4/6 and will re-evaluate at that time. Assuming other conferences are taking similar measures.

Some conferences have and will continue to do that. If things have settled down by 4/6 then the B1G will allow some regular season contests/meets through the end of the year. I wonder if playing some games would affect the possibility of the NCAA considering granting eligibility extensions to these athletes.

[Impartial_Observer]

1 hour ago, JustRules said:

Some conferences have and will continue to do that. If things have settled down by 4/6 then the B1G will allow some regular season contests/meets through the end of the year. I wonder if playing some games would affect the possibility of the NCAA considering granting eligibility extensions to these athletes.

Eligibility is obviously an issue, springs sports were already in full swing. I think it's impossible to predict given the dynamics of this situation, literally changing by the hour.

As far as the HS situation, it's very fluid as well. As things stand right now, most schools are looking at resuming classes 4/6. Given that date the earliest any contest could happen would be the third week of April. This thing appears to continue to grow, I just don't see schools returning by 4/6, I really think spring sports are in jeopardy. 

The IHSAA has now postponed the BB tournament. Postponed to me means we'll do it in a week or so, and that's just not going to happen. I think they're prolonging the inevitable. 

[Guest]

On 3/12/2020 at 2:25 PM, DannEllenwood said:

As an official, I have not received any cancellations.

Very fluid situation so I would presume things may/will change.

Softball Cancellations have begun for me. 

[JustRules]

1 hour ago, Impartial_Observer said:

Eligibility is obviously an issue, springs sports were already in full swing. I think it's impossible to predict given the dynamics of this situation, literally changing by the hour.

As far as the HS situation, it's very fluid as well. As things stand right now, most schools are looking at resuming classes 4/6. Given that date the earliest any contest could happen would be the third week of April. This thing appears to continue to grow, I just don't see schools returning by 4/6, I really think spring sports are in jeopardy. 

The IHSAA has now postponed the BB tournament. Postponed to me means we'll do it in a week or so, and that's just not going to happen. I think they're prolonging the inevitable. 

If they end up killing the entire Spring sports season, they could possibly have a 2 weekend event to play the last 4 rounds. Two regional rounds one weekend and semi-state/state the following weekend. They wouldn't be competing with Spring sports because they don't exist and having something for a couple weeks could be a nice recovery from what we are about to go through.

[oldtimeqb]

1 hour ago, JustRules said:

If they end up killing the entire Spring sports season, they could possibly have a 2 weekend event to play the last 4 rounds. Two regional rounds one weekend and semi-state/state the following weekend. They wouldn't be competing with Spring sports because they don't exist and having something for a couple weeks could be a nice recovery from what we are about to go through.

That makes very little sense to me. Winter sports season is over - with the exception of 64 out of 412 schools. Not to be a stickler either - but it’s only a boys sport that is unfinished.

When will this be over? Who knows for sure. But as it is, Girls Track sectional is May 19th. Boys Track is May 21st. Girls tennis and softball the following week, with baseball and boys golf the week after. 
 

If (and definitely if) sports resume between now and those dates, I don’t see how in good conscious you could tell athletes in those six sports their chance at any competition is less important than an unfinished basketball tournament.

Practice? I think athletes could run, jump, throw, and swing a bat/racket/club just as easily as shoot a basketball between now and then too.... and outdoors.

[JustRules]

22 hours ago, oldtimeqb said:

That makes very little sense to me. Winter sports season is over - with the exception of 64 out of 412 schools. Not to be a stickler either - but it’s only a boys sport that is unfinished.

When will this be over? Who knows for sure. But as it is, Girls Track sectional is May 19th. Boys Track is May 21st. Girls tennis and softball the following week, with baseball and boys golf the week after. 
 

If (and definitely if) sports resume between now and those dates, I don’t see how in good conscious you could tell athletes in those six sports their chance at any competition is less important than an unfinished basketball tournament.

Practice? I think athletes could run, jump, throw, and swing a bat/racket/club just as easily as shoot a basketball between now and then too.... and outdoors.

Just a hypothetical if they decide to scrap the Spring seasons. I'm not saying finishing the boys tournament is a better option than letting the spring sports play. But if they really can't get going until mid-May it probably doesn't make sense to start the new seasons, but it wouldn't be that much to have 3 additional games in each class (12 total). I doubt they would do both.

[Staxawax]

On 3/13/2020 at 11:44 AM, JustRules said:

Just because championships are cancelled (NCAA or NFHS state associations) doesn't mean the regular seasons for those competitions are cancelled. Especially in NCAA I expect they cancelled all championship events because the funding they would have used to pay for them is likely lost with the cancellation of the basketball tournament. March Madness is 80% of the revenue for the NCAA and they exist to regulate policies and conduct championships. They don't do anything with the regular season or conference tournaments.

My understanding is they have insurance to cover most of the lost revenue.

[TDunham]

On 3/12/2020 at 6:54 PM, LCKfan4life said:

If  Spring sports do cancel, let's take baseball for instance. Is there anything preventing players and coaches from meeting another local team and playing at a non school facility? No team buses, get there on your own, and not mandatory. Teams would not have to wear any uniform provided by the school, or use any school purchased equipment. Obviously it would not be a sanctioned contest, but would allow players to still compete. 

Who would assume liability for injuries? Would purchase insurance if required by the owner of the field, say a local park? Would the baseball coaches' organization liability insurance still cover the coaches? If I were a baseball coach, I wouldn't touch this.

[globemstr3]

Ae ya all drinking the Coolaid? Sorta sounds like it sorry.

 

[AG]

46 minutes ago, globemstr3 said:

Ae ya all drinking the Coolaid? Sorta sounds like it sorry.

 

What does that mean?

[wabashalwaysfights]

Still holding out hope for this spring season, but given the speed with which so many things have happened, government recommendations becoming increasingly more restrictive, restaraunts closing dining rooms, public libraries closing, not to mention all the professional and collegiate sport cancellations, that hope is quickly fading.  No matter how seriously you are personally taking this whole thing, it's going to be really hard to justify high school athletics when you are going to have schools not physically back in session until mid to late April at the earliest.

[coachkj]

I can see nothing but tournaments for spring sports.  If that.

[Impartial_Observer]

I am co-chair for the Softball All Star game, which we’ve held the last two years at IU. We received an email Friday stating IU has canceled all facilities rentals. It did say since our event is in late June there was a possibility it could be picked back up.