Of all the questions regarding what the2020-21 school year in New York State might look like, those surrounding the possibility of scholastic sports weigh heavily on the minds of students, parents and school administrators.
And the only certainty is that it could go in many different directions, ranging from the status quo built up over decades to a radical overhaul of sports and seasons.
A special task force formed by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association spent large portions of its first two meetings on June 10 and 30 discussing these options at length.
What resulted, in a report released by the task force on the first day of July, were six proposals which covered a range of possibilities, though all of it depended on what Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Department of Education decide to do later this month.
When schools were closed in mid-March due to the COVID-19 outbreak, it also halted high school sports, preventing state championships from taking place in basketball, ice hockey and bowling, and wiping out the entire spring sports season.
The NYSPHSAA Task Force, whose members includes Jamesville-DeWitt High School principal Paul Gasparini, was formed to sort out how sports could return once the go-ahead from state officials was given.
Of the six scenarios laid out by the task force, one involved a full return to school and the same fall, winter and sports seasons as before, though it included social distancing restrictions.
Two other scenarios involved sports participation whether schools were open with a hybrid of in-person and virtual classes or had online instruction.
In the first case (hybrid) fall sports would only include low-risk activities such as baseball, softball, tennis, track and field, golf, tennis, bowling and girls lacrosse, moving football, soccer and field hockey to the spring.
If classes remained online as they were from March to June but sports were allowed to begin, the fall and spring seasons would get broken up into two parts, making for a total of five seasons of eight weeks apiece. Several sports would get shuffled.
NYSPHSAA also presented another scenario where the hybrid and distance-learning models remained the same, but high school sports did not start in August.
In both of these models, three seasons would cover 10 weeks apiece, starting on Jan. 4, with the sports usually played in the fall (including football) moved in between winter and spring sports and running through June 12.
Yet another scenario addressed the possibility that different parts of the state might find themselves in different health-care situations due to COVID-19.
If that were to happen, NYSPHSAA said that sections and regions had the right to amend their own schedules and not expect state championships to be contested.
“The top priority shall be the safety of all associated with interscholastic athletics, followed by engaging students, with (state) championships being a low priority,” the task force said.
NYSPHSAA also noted that a survey it conducted with more than 6,000 superintendents, principals, athletic directors and coaches said that fan attendance at events was less important than assuring that students were safe and healthy.
