All New Mexico high school fall sports postponed
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (BVM) — When the New Mexico Activities Association released an amended calendar for the 2020-21 academic year back in July, the hope was that this would be the month that high school sports competition would make its return. But plans have changed in New Mexico again after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced last Thursday that the three sports that were scheduled to be played this fall — volleyball, cross country and fall golf — can’t be held yet due to public health concerns related to COVID-19.
The NMAA released a statement announcing that those three sports would be postponed until the spring semester which is when every other sport is scheduled to be played.
“We were planning and hoping to begin competition this month as our member schools are eager to safely integrate sports and activities back into our students’ lives,” NMAA Executive Director Sally Marquez said in the press release. “At this point, however, we cannot stage any competitive events without an update to the current public health order. Thus, the NMAA’s fall sports seasons have been postponed strictly based on the orders set forth by the Office of the Governor.”
Football and boys soccer were moved from fall to winter back in July when the original amended calendar was released, with both sports scheduled to begin in February. While golf won’t be impacted much since there is also a spring season for the sport, the NMAA is working on a revised prep calendar as it now has to come up with a new plan for cross country and volleyball, which comes with plenty of challenges.
“We have to not only look at the two sports and where they fit, but we need to get with the coaches,” Marquez said Tuesday in a video interview. “You’re talking about cross country doing a back-to-back with track. That’s really difficult. We need to make sure those athletes are safe. And then volleyball, we’ve put it right in there, but you’ve got basketball and volleyball players that are doing both sports. We’ve got club volleyball we’re running into, so I think it’s not going to be a quick decision but it needs to be the right decision.”
Because there has been no change to the state’s health orders, coaches can still meet with their teams and work hold workouts in 9-1 pods with mask wearing and social distancing, but competitions themselves won’t be allowed to take place this fall.
Even with all sports now being played in one semester, Marquez stressed that the NMAA wants to make sure that all athletes still can play all of the sports they want without having to give one up under the new plan.
“We don’t want to get a situation where the kids are going to have to choose,” Marquez said. “The kids have had it rough since March. Spring sports were eliminated and now we’re waiting until January to do all of the sports, so we want to make sure whatever we do is for the good of the student athlete.”
Marquez acknowledged back in July that the NMAA’s “plan B” for the 2020-21 academic year likely wouldn’t be the final plan due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the pandemic. With the latest plan to move all sports to 2021, she remains optimistic that high school athletes will get the chance to play again before the end of the school year.
“We don’t want to hear the word canceled,” Marquez said. “We want to keep thinking that we’re going to be able to play all sports in the 20-21 school year. … Right now they are postponed, we have our calendar and we are going to take it one day at a time and hoping that if we change our behavior, mask wearing and social distance and do what we can, then our student athletes will be able to play all the sports that they love next semester.”