OSSAA approves amending policy regarding cancellation of district contests

The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association board of director son Friday amended a policy concerning cancellation of district contests in all sports for the 2020-21 school year.

The change will take effect this fall with football and fastpitch softball.

The amended policy states that if a team is forced to miss ad istrict contest because of COVID-related issues and it's still in school, whether that' s distance learning or in-class, it would no longer have to forfeit the district contest and it would be considered a nongame.

Previous wording said a team who couldn't play in a district contest would be forced to forfeit unless its entire school district was closed, not allowing distance or in-person learning.

The new policy will impact district contests f or the remainder of the school year. Superintendents of school districts will have to inform OSSAA executive director David Jackson if their school is unable to play a district contest because of COVID-related issues. If that happens, the contest will be considered a nongame.

If a district game is canceled, t hat district will have a different selection process for the playoffs.

The district standings for that district would then be determined using the following criteria: 1. Total number of district wins. (The number of wins only in district play, not a won/ loss percentage.); 2. headto-head results; 3. average number of marginal points in district play; 4. lot.

In the event two teams are tied with the same number of district wins and the tied teams played each other in district play; the higher place in the standings shall be given to the team that won over the other team.

In the event two teams are tied with the same number of district wins and the two ti ed teams did not play each other in district play; the higher place in the standings shall be given to the team that has the higher average of marginal points in all district games played.

In the event two teams are tied with the same number of district wins, the tied teams did not play each other in district play and the tied teams have the same average number of marginal points in district play; the higher place in the district standing shall be decided by lot.

Schools are encouraged to try and play all of their district contests if possible. There can be two district contests in a week, such as Monday or Tuesday and Friday or Saturday.