Tennessee high schools to push back start of football, girls soccer seasons
HERMITAGE, Tenn. (BVM) — Tennessee athletes looking to get back onto the field this fall will likely have to wait a little longer. On June 29, with the number of COVID-19 cases on the rise in the state, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee extended the state’s COVID-19 State of Emergency until Aug. 29. The original order, which was passed by the governor in May, put a limitation on contact sports and these guidelines must be followed with the new timeframe.
According to the order passed in May, all contact sporting events are “prohibited” besides professional or collegiate events, which may continue if they are permitted to by their governing bodies and follow the appropriate guidelines. Although contact sports will not be allowed under the order, non-contact sporting events and activities may continue with spectators as long as they follow the order’s social distancing guidelines.
Contact sports are defined in the order as, “sports for which there is a requirement or substantial likelihood of routine, sustained close proximity or physical contact between participants.” These sports include football, wrestling, basketball, and hockey among others. Non-contact sporting events are defined in the order as sports that can be conducted while substantially maintaining appropriate social distancing, and that involve at most only close contact or proximity between participants that is incidental to the activity. These sports and activities include baseball, softball, tennis, golf, volleyball, swimming, and track and field among others.
With the governor’s decision, Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association executive director Bernard Childress sent a memo on the status of high school athletics to member schools on June 30. In the memo, it states that the TSSAA is “working with the governor’s office to ensure that our member schools are in compliance with the executive order in regards to athletic participation and contact sports.” The memo continued to explain that while the order remains in place, TSSAA member schools cannot hold any competitions or scrimmages with other schools and they cannot have close contact activities during practices.
With the order, Childress also wrote that the seasons for both football and girls soccer would not be allowed to start as originally planned for member schools. It is not known yet when these seasons would begin, but Childress said the TSSAA is in the process of “developing regular season and postseason options to present to the TSSAA Board of Control for their consideration.” It will ultimately be up to the board how the delay adjusts the seasons and how any changes will impact postseasons for the sports, according to the memo.
The decision is a blow for a number of high school athletes throughout the state of Tennessee. According to the TSSAA website, there are an estimated 110,000 participants across 426 schools with over 6,000 coaches and nearly 5,500 teams. After many athletes lost all or part of their seasons earlier this year, this will come as unwelcome news to those athletes who were lucky enough to avoid the impact of the virus on their fall sports last season. With COVID-19 still impacting many parts of the state, it is now time for Tennesseeans to play the waiting game before they see their full slate of high school athletics again.
