NYSPHSAA RELEASES STATEMENT ON WINTER SPORTS
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY » On Monday afternoon, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association clarified guidance that they have received from state officials regarding the status of winter sports.
Sports classified as low or moderate risk, such as bowling, gymnastics, indoor track & field and swimming and diving will be able to begin on November 30, 2020. High risk sports, such as basketball, hockey andwrestling still hang in the balance.
While local athletic directors acknowledge that it will be a struggle to safely pull off all winter sports, they are still hoping to be given the opportunity to try, especially after completing successful fall athletic season.
“You want to do what’s best for kids, whichmeans both being able to provide opportunities for them and making sure that they’re going to be safe,” said Saratoga Springs athletic director, Nick McPartland.
“Student-athletes are going to find somewhere to play. It’s a matter of whether they’re going to go play in the private club areas where guidance is more loose or if you want them playing for the schools where we have more control and hopefully more recourses to offer a safe playing environment.”
Joe Scalise, the athletic director at Burnt Hills-Ballston
Lake, echoed the sentiment kids are going find places to play and that it’s safer for that place to be in the schools.
“We’re happy that the fall season has run pretty smoothly and I’mconfident that we can set up a similar plan and have a successful season for our winter athletes,” Scalise said. “I like that we can control the procedures our student athletes go through by having high school athletics. We can’t control what happens when they’re out playing in different club programs. I like having the ability to provide our kids with an experience that is safe and follows all the guidelines.”
Nothing has yet been determined regarding the fate of high-risk winter sports, but the idea of student-athletes going through external organizations to play their sports seems likely to put entire student bodies at risk, should the opportunity not be presented at the high school level.
“We feel confident that if a player does test positive, it’s not because of anything they did during practice or a game while at school, but it’s the stuff that we see on social media where it appears there aren’t as many protocols in place,” McPartland said.
“It’s those events that could shut us down altogether. You just don’t want to see people out there doing things that could increase the risk of them bringing something back to the schools. That’s a viable concern for anyone working in schools.”
The planning and preparation for the current fall season goes all the way back to last spring and it hasn’t stopped. While the Suburban Council has had isolated incidents of players that have been required to quarantine, the schools involved in fall sports right now, including Burnt Hills and Saratoga, largely see the past few months as a success story.
“I think the coaches in the league have done a fantastic job of putting together a plan so that we can ensure the safety of all of our student-athletes and that they’ve been given the opportunity to compete against the other Suburban council schools,” Scalise said.
“It’s a testament to our student athletes who have really stepped up in following guidelines,” McPartland added.
Both athletic directors gave a bunch of credit to their students, parents and community for getting on board right away and seeing the bigger picture that was in play.
“We felt that as a league, the best chance to have a winter season would be to have a successful fall season and then to carry that on further. I think our athletes have embraced that we’re setting the tone for the year. I think they understand that they’re doing their part,” McPartland said.
One way or another, student-athletes who are determined to play sports will find a way to do so. The question now becomes whether or not they will do so in schools, where there is a lotmore control, or is they will play in outside leagues with far less regulations.
Scalise and McPartland are hoping that their schools are giving the opportunity to keep their kids both active and safe, which they feel that they are the ones best equipped to do.
“At the end of the day, parents wanted their kids to participate and they’re happy that there is a program for their kids to be involved in,” Scalise said of fall sports. “I’m most proud of our student-athletes for understanding all the guidelines that we have in place and not complaining about it, just going forward and participating. They wanted to participate and they did a good job responding.”