High school athletes get fall green light

High school coaches don’t often stop in the middle of the day to watch politicians on TV, but plenty from across the state were focused Friday on Gov. Asa Hutchinson as he removed his mask and stepped to the microphone.

Many speculated, myself included, the start of fall sports would be pushed back, much like the SEC decided when it announced a 10game conference schedule the day before. The trickle-down effect, as it were. But that’s what we get for speculating instead of waiting, listening and learning.

Hutchinson announced fall sports, with backing from the Arkansas Department of Health, will proceed as scheduled. The directive includes contact sports like volleyball and football, where teams will take the field for games as early as Aug. 27 and no later than Sept. 4.

After months of conditioning and meetings via social media platforms, players will practice in helmets on Monday and Tuesday before adding shoulder pads on Wednesday. Coaches across the state expressed their appreciation at Friday’s announcement, especially after some states decided to push the season back or postpone fall sports altogether.

“Our players have been working out and practicing since June,” said Chris Young, who’ll make his Greenwood coaching debut Sept. 4 against Fort Smith Southside. “It’s going to be like Christmas to them on Monday when they get to put that helmet on.”

Friday’s decision to move ahead as scheduled secures some fantastic nonconference and revenue-producing games like Prairie Grove-Farmington, Alma-Van Buren, and Southside and Fort Smith Northside, which will play in separate conferences for the first time since the 1980s. There’ll be adjustments as Springdale HarBer (Jenks) and Bentonville West (Broken Arrow) have each picked up opponents from Oklahoma to replace Texas teams that had their seasons pushed back.

The SEC’s decision to play conference games only means those teams won’t take the field until Sept. 26. Would it be possible for some high school teams to fill that void and move a game to Saturday afternoon? Big games like Bentonville and Kansas City Rockhurst, Fayetteville and Owasso, Okla., Greenwood and Northside, or even Northside-Southside, which is set for Aug. 27. ESPN has expressed an interest in airing the Joe T. Robinson-Pulaski Academy game that matches defending state champions in Arkansas.

As a fan, I’ll take Saturday afternoon football over Thursday night football any time.

“I’m not sure about (Saturday games), but I’m up for anything we can do to showcase our kids,” Young said.

Receiving the green light to proceed doesn’t mean teams can race through daily drills without following the necessary precautions from the Arkansas Department of Health to combat the spread of covid-19, which has killed more than 450 people in the state. Teams will be closely monitored, and an advisory group led Arkansas Surgeon General Dr. Greg Bledsoe will meet beginning Monday to offer assistance with football and volleyball.

Hutchinson and Arkansas Activities Association executive director Lance Taylor were each emphatic Friday about following protocols already in place.

“This [mask] is what is going to let us play this year,” Taylor said from the podium. “This is going to determine conference championships, regional championships, and state championships. We’ve been challenged, so we have to help get our [covid] numbers down.”

There are still unanswered questions, including the parts parents and fans of the teams will play. A large crowd that may typically watch Prairie Grove and Farmington, for instance, will be greatly reduced if social distancing is required in the stands. The decision on crowd control will be announced at a later date.

For now, there’s great relief fall sports in Arkansas can proceed with caution, unlike last spring when hundreds of athletes were robbed of competition because of covid-19. Meeting safety-first requirements will dictate how long our athletes will play in 2020.

“This is one of those things where you just wanted to take the next step,” Springdale Har-Ber coach Chris Wood said. “Our governor and the AAA are allowing us the opportunity to do that. Now it’s our responsibility to take it in a very safe way.”