The MIAA COVID-19 Task Force voted Tuesday to send a number of recommendations to the MIAA Board of Directors in regards to the 2020-2021 athletic season, with the main recommendation being to add an extra season in order to accommodate all high school sports. Sports like football would be moved to a fourth season between winter and spring under these new recommendations, which are slated to be voted on by the Board of Directors at a meeting Wednesday.
In addition, the Task Force — which is made up of Massachusetts principals, athletic directors, physicians, officials, superintendents and MIAA officials — presented these recommendations to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) in a meeting late Monday night. The DESE released a statement Tuesday agreeing with the season schedule outlined by the Task Force, allowing the MIAA to follow the schedule if the Board of Directors votes to approve the recommendations.
The recommendations for the 2020-2021 athletic seasons by the Task Force are as follows:
— Fall Sports (Sept. 14-Nov. 20): Boys and girls soccer, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, field hockey, swim and dive, golf and fall gymnastics.
— Winter Sports (Nov. 30-Feb. 21): Boys and girls basketball, boys and girls ice hockey, boys and girls indoor track and field, wrestling, winter gymnastics, alpine ski, nordic ski, winter cheerleading, dance and swim and dive.
— Fall Sports II (Feb. 22-April 25): Football, fall cheerleading, Unified basketball and any other fall sports not played in fall season for whatever reason.
— Spring Sports (April 26-July 3): Baseball, softball, boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls tennis, boys volleyball, boys and girls outdoor track, rugby, sailing, girls golf, crew.
In regards to football being played in a new fourth season for this year — a season that could involve a decent amount of snow removal in the early portion — local football coaches are mixed in their reaction to how that will go over.
“I think at this point, it’s not ideal and not what everyone wants to hear but I think it’s our best option right now,” said Bishop Fenwick football coach Dave Woods. “The way things are now, it’s going to be nearly impossible to safely play a season this fall. So instead of trying to do something like have a 7-on-7 season or miss football altogether, I think this is the best way to go.”
“I’m definitely not complaining, if you say we can play football then let’s go,” said Lynn Tech football coach James Runner. “At the same time I think it could be a little tough. Football is usually the sport that gets a lot of kids in shape for their other sports during the year and we have a pretty long time to prepare. Changing all of that up will have challenges, but if that’s what we have to do then I’m all for it.”
The Task Force also recommended that member schools will have the opportunity to adjust dates with the approval of their District Athletic Committee. This would allow schools flexibility if they are not able to play sports right away or if they have to postpone a season at some point.
One of the most notable recommendations by the Task Force was the recommendation to eliminate the out-of-season coaching restrictions for the 2020-2021 school year. This would be a repeal, for one year, of Rule 40 of the MIAA Handbook.
“I don’t think that’s something the MIAA is going to entertain, to be honest,” said Woods, who also serves as Fenwick’s athletic director. “I know for us as a small school with a lot of athletes who play multiple sports, we’re not going to encourage out-of-season coaching. We want our athletes to focus on the sport they’re playing at that time.”
“As important as it is to get a lot of coaching in before the season, you’d never want to step on the toes of the other coaches at our school,” said Runner, who also coaches track at Tech. “A lot of the kids on my football team play basketball and run track, so you obviously want them to focus on those sports just as much as football. You don’t want to make kids choose like that.”
The final recommendation made by the Task Force was an expected one, and that is the recommendation that individual MIAA sports committees will be tasked with coming up with the modifications necessary to comply with the recent EEA safety guidelines.
The MIAA Board of Directors is slated to meet Wednesday to vote on all recommendations.