High School Football Postponed Until Spring
The Michigan High School Athletics Association announced Friday that it will be postponing football until the spring season due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“At the end of the day, we did everything we could to find a path forward for football this fall,” MHSAA executive director Mark Uyl said in a news release Friday. “But while continuing to connect with the Governor’s office, state health department officials, our member schools’ personnel and the Council, there is just too much uncertainty and too many unknowns to play football this fall.”
Questions still remain on how football will fit in with the already crowded boys spring schedule along with track and baseball. Several Stockbridge athletes compete in the two spring sports along with football and it could hurt all of the teams if they are forced to choose.
One possibility is having an early spring sports season which would include football. Practices would start in Feburary or March and a shortened season would be played in April and May. The MHSAA would then add a late spring season with baseball and track starting contests in late May and go into July.
The announcement of football moving to spring left other “higher risk” sports wondering what could happen to them. Volleyball and boys’ soccer are deemed higher risk along with football and will find out by August 19 once the MHSAA gets more input from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office if their seasons will be played as scheduled or moved to the spring along with football.
“No one is willing to take the risk of COVID being passed on because of a high-risk sport. Decisions have to be made on our other sports as well, but none of those carry the same close, consistent, and face-to-face contact as football,” Uyl said. “While this is tremendously disappointing, we will do everything possible to provide the best possible experience in the spring while adding football into the calendar.”
Information on scheduling and the format of the spring football season will be announced over the next few months, the MHSAA release said.
