TO PLAY OR NOT TO PLAY
Most mid-michigan prep teams to play next week
Some high schools are going to play sports next week.
Some aren’t, preferring to take a twoweek hiatus per the governor’s recommendation.
Some don’t know yet and are mulling the decision.
Such was the response in the hours following Friday’s recommendation from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to put a voluntary two-week pause on youth sports and indoor dining in the state of Michigan because of a recent rapid spike in COVID-19 cases.
The Governor’s announcement spurred nearly instantaneous administrative meetings in high schools around the state as the 2021 spring sports season is about to bust out in earnest next week. Yet Whitmer’s recommendation is only that, offering schools leeway to make the decision on their own.
As it stands Alma, Beal City, Sacred Heart Academy, Coleman, Clare, Montabella, Ithaca, Harrison and Chippewa Hills all will be playing high school sports per usual next week while Farwell will be shutting down its athletic schedule for the next two weeks, albeit the teams will practice.
Down Shepherd way the Jays won’t make a decision until Monday night’s School Board meeting.
As of 4:30 p.m. Friday, Mt. Pleasant was still meeting and mulling the decision.
So, what to make out of all of it?
Well, in talking to a lot of people Friday, the main theme that was re-iterated was Whitmer’s recommendation put everyone in a damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don’t situation.
If you don’t play you’re going hear about it.
If you do play you’re going to hear about it.
Either way, you’re going to hear about it. It’s a lose-lose situation that puts local ADS and administrators in a thankless position.
Looking back at the winter season, it was filled with cancellations and forfeits and two-week quarantines throughout. Some basketball teams played 10 games and some 25. Some teams folded before the season started. It wasn’t perfect, but as of Saturday the shortened 2021 winter season ends with the boys basketball finals.
Looking forward spring sports are a different beast entirely in that they lend themselves to social distancing by their very nature and are played outside rather than inside crammed gymnasiums.
The fact that baseball, softball, track and field, golf, lacrosse, tennis and soccer are all played outside played a huge role in local schools’ decisions to continue playing Friday. Season-wise the spring season is the shortest of the three MHSAA seasons and losing two weeks would shorten it significantly.
In the end whether a school decides to play or take a two-week break is its choice decided by its people in the know. Some schools are hell-bent on playing, some err on the side of caution.
There’s really no right answer either, just a recommendation.