State’s governing body for high school sports knocks down fall-cancellation rumor
A tweet posted Tuesday afternoon went quasi-viral among Kansas high school sports fans.
“KSHSAA is considering canceling fall sports on 7/15,” a Twitter user wrote. “Please email your thoughts to them at kshsaa@kshsaa.org. Please don’t let them do this. We must get out ahead of this.”
About 30 minutes later, the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) replied to the tweet saying in a tweet of its own, “There is no truth to this rumor.”
KSHSAA officials then hosted a Wednesday video call with Kansas media to further clarify.
“Unfortunately, someone was pretty irresponsible with social media and never talked with anybody here,” KSHSAA executive director Bill Faflick said.
The rumor came on the heels of KSHSAA’s decision to cancel the second half of the state basketball tournaments and all of the spring sports season.
Many have wondered whether autumn sports would be nixed next.
“Our efforts right now are directed at preparing for the fall season,” Faflick said. “All of our efforts right now are directed at equipping our member schools with considerations as they get ready to go Aug. 17 (the first day of fall sports practices).”
KSHSAA is working with the Kansas Department of Education, the governor’s office and its own sports medicine advisory committee to provide prudent guidance, Faflick said. There are several “well-developed” plans in place regarding the return of fall sports, he said, but all are in the draft phase and will be released “as late as we believe is appropriate.”
Many schools have reached out to KSHSAA requesting advice about how to operate summer conditioning practices as COVID-19 cases continue to spike across the state, Faflick said. But the organization is hesitant to advise those schools until Gov. Laura Kelly’s new executive order, requiring the wearing of masks across the state, is released Thursday.
“We support universal masking,” Faflick said. “It is important for us to take every precaution now to mitigate risk of the spread of COVID-19, so that we have the best chance possible to resume school with the healthiest population possible.”
Even with “universal masking,” risk remains. In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has proposed a flip of the fall and spring high school sports seasons. In Kansas, that would mean baseball starting in August and ending in November, and football starting in March and ending in May.
Per a report from athleticbusiness.com that cited a Detroit News story, “Whitmer believes that fall sports like football, soccer and volleyball are inherently (more) capable of spreading the virus. Therefore, it might be prudent to push them back and give Michigan more time to fight COVID-19.”
If the Kansas fall sports seasons were ultimately canceled, though, that would mean back-to-back school years without sports such as baseball, softball and girls soccer.
“That would be very damaging,” Faflick said. “While we’ve looked at that, at this point, July 1, 2020, it does not seem to be a direction we want to go.”
Rather than flipping seasons, Faflick said it’s possible KSHSAA will shift its seasons or shorten them to accommodate all athletes and sports, even if a particular season is canceled.
“I anticipate out of the nine-game football schedule, there may be some schools that don’t get to play all nine games,” Faflick said.
Other updates from KSHSAA
- Eligibility in Kansas high school athletics is based on enrollment. If a school moves its fall classes online, that would not remove student-athletes from participation in KSHSAA athletics.
- Regular-season attendance requirements will come down to league and school policies. Postseason attendance requirements will come from KSHSAA.
- Adapted football-helmet visors have been approved for in-game use. These visors cover the eyes but also the mouth, while not restricting regular breathing. There is little medical evidence to prove the effectiveness of these visors, however, in preventing the spread of viral illness.
- The Kansas Department of Education is scheduled to provide an update on July 17 about the possible return of on-site schooling. KSHSAA will take that update into account when crafting its fall sports plan.
- Conditioning is a “huge concern” when fall sports return, the organization has concluded.
KSHSAA advises that masks made of cloth should not be worn when wet; they are not effective that way.
State basketball semifinalist teams received KSHSAA certificates. Players received medals and a letter from Faflick and assistant executive director Fran Martin. The KSHSAA record books and website will recognize all four semifinal teams from each classification.
An updated third-party survey regarding the public-private school dynamic in high school athletics has been sent to member schools. KSHSAA is still awaiting responses from 29 schools before releasing the data. July 4 is the deadline for those schools to respond.
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 6:14 PM with the headline "State’s governing body for high school sports knocks down fall-cancellation rumor."