(Update: Adds a story link about the Ivy League’s alternate plan to play football in the spring.)
Across the continent, the push for football season in the spring rather than fall is gaining traction.
The latest spark is in Michigan, where Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has suggested the change of season.
Whitmer told the Detroit News: “I’m also calling on the Michigan High School Athletic Association to consider postponing fall sports that have the impossibility of social distancing that’s a part of them; consider moving those to the spring and running some of the more individualized sports like track and field or tennis or golf to the fall."
She isn't the first. In Hawaii, Saint Louis Coach Ron Lee suggested a switch months ago. His stance has not changed since. In fact, last week, Coach Lee was adamant as ever about allowing "lower risk" sports like softball, baseball, track and field and golf — all cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic last spring — move earlier to the fall season. That would allow "higher risk" (according to the National Federation of High Schools) sports like football a chance to have a full season rather than an abbreviated or outright cancelled campaign.
"If we start (games) in September and we have three or four kids who are tested positive, are we going to cancel the season? What is the protocol. That is my question. Guaranteed there will be positive cases," Lee said on Saturday.
The current starting date for football practice is Aug. 17, according to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association. Other fall sports will begin Aug. 31. The enormous spike in coronavirus case totals in several mainland states — where social distancing and wearing masks are largely shunned — have given sports officials in other regions much to ponder. Natalie Iwamoto of the HHSAA told the Star-Advertiser's Dave Reardon that the football season could be postponed to October if necessary.
While the push for spring football builds steam on the mainland, college football appears to be on a bumpy road as positive cases pile up at many campuses.
"I think the colleges should go to the spring. Make a decision. Say, Jan. 15 is the first game, then you have four months to finish the (football) season, and move the manageable sports earlier," said Lee, who has coached prep and college football since 1969. "(Lower-risk sports) don't have to use a locker room. There's no equipment. But if you don't utilize August, September or October, everything's going to get bunched up (in winter and spring), and you have to cut this, cut that."
Meanwhile, MaxPreps reports that Indiana is the first state to announce a re-opening for high school sports — with today (July 1) as the re-start date. Indiana was one of the states that had a mini-outbreak with deaths resulting from a state basketball tournament sectional earlier in the year.
Even the Ivy League is considering a switch to spring, according to SI.com.
In the islands, the delicate balance between tourism and health risk has been at center stage. The mandatory 14-day quarantine for visitors and returning residents remains in place. Lee's background in the tourist industry — he retired from the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel a decade ago — informs his outlook.
"We need them. We need tourists. It's the lesser of two evils. Right now, the economy is so bad," he said. "And it's going to get worse if we don't get the visitors."
Kealakehe Coach Wyatt Nahale agrees with Lee.
"I would be along the lines of what Ron said. I'm biased toward football, but I feel bad for baseball, track, softball, all these sports that never had a spring season. They should have a season up front (in the fall), at least have a chance," Nahale said. "There's no map for COVID-19. We've got to think outside of the box for our kids."
State Rep. Chris Todd, who was the offensive coordinator at Hilo, said the expectation is of at least 50 new cases per day as tourism opens up to 30-percent capacity.
Comments