So the Michigan High School Athletic Association today announced the bold and hopeful move to permit fall high school sports to proceed.
Indeed, such a decision can be controversial because the renewed spiking of COVID-19 cases in a majority of states, including Michigan. Though the Great Lakes state made impressive gains in coping with the virus after a rocky start, the numbers here have been climbing as well, particularly in the last three weeks.
However, we’re not seeing those awful numbers of deaths we endured in April and May, and that’s probably because of better testing and most importantly, because younger people are getting the disease and can better handle it. That doesn’t mean they can avoid passing it along to the more vulnerable.
I was glad to see the MHSAA is differentiating health risks among the fall sports, football, volleyball, boys’ soccer, girls’ swimming, girls’ tennis and boys’ and girls’ cross country.
It’s these latter two sports that are blessed by their nature with distancing, which makes them the safest of sports in the autumn. Not only do girls and boys try to run away from opponents, they also in in perpetual motion.
MLive reporter Julie Mack wrote an excellent piece explaining why beachgoers, partiers and people attending parties came down with more Coronavirus cases than the Black Lives matter protesters. Though right-wingers have cried foul, that the game is rigged. Mack found out the protesters had two huge advantages. Being in motion rather than stagnant and wearing facial masks.
That means if cross-country runners can avoid the temptation to gather with teammates before and after the races, they probably can cruise through an entire season without a lot of problems.
Though football and soccer involve a lot of outdoor motion, by nature, there is a lot of contact and collisions, so it remains to be seen how successful they will be in avoiding the spread of the virus.
Tennis has the combatants more than six feet away, so the only trouble would be meeting at the net and sharing the same ball.
The greatest risks, unfortunately, are the indoor sports, volleyball and swimming, because they are indoor.
I applaud the MHSAA’s efforts to give the kids a chance to play, but I worry a lot about somebody getting sick, even though prospects for recovery are good.
Geoff Kimmerly wrote a piece on the MHSAA web site today, reporting that high school football practices are scheduled to begin Aug. 10, and all other fall sports will start practices Aug. 12.
The MHSAA plan calls all fall sports to be played as scheduled, but if problems arise, there could be delays or cancellations. Lower-risk fall sports can be played to be completed, with higher-risk sports postponed until later in the school year. It eventually could mean spring seasons would be extended into July 2021.
Another wild card is the number fans allowed. Perhaps better information will come next month.
