OHSAA affirms school sports will begin as planned

Mayfield, Euclid among districts suspending sports

A day before the fall high school sports season begins, the OHSAA Board of Directors informed member schools it intends to move forward with high school athletics as planned. Low/ non-contact and contact sports are permitted to begin practices on Aug. 1.

Communication from the OHSAA was provided amid announcements by numerous schools they would postpone extracurricular activities in accordance with county health department recommendations.

Dan Leffingwell, president of the OHSAA Board of Directors and superintendent of Noble Local Schools, stressed the need for student-athletes to remain within an academic-based athletic sphere.

“It is important to keep athletic activity moving forward,” Leffingwell said in a release. “And with that, we believe our member schools provide our student-athletes with the safest possible environment to return to play and that our school programs are the best avenue to help students learn lifelong lessons and provide social, emotional and physical benefits that other programs cannot.

“Moving forward allows those students to continue to be engaged with their school coaches and teammates. Membership data also supports this decision.”

Some athletic administrators anticipated an announcement late July 30 after a board meeting was held, then awaited communication again July 31 after the Board of Directors teleconferenced with district personnel.

The remaining 2019-20 winter tournaments and entire 2020 spring sports season were wiped out by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The OHSAA stipulated that if contact sports are not approved for school versus school competition by Sept. 4, fall contact sports and remaining winter and spring sports will move to a condensed schedule that will take place between mid-December and the end of June.

In other words, if football is unable to gain approval for competition by Sept. 4 then all sports across all seasons will be subject to shortened schedules.

Under those circumstances, though, fall noncontact sports would proceed as scheduled.

Cross country and field hockey, currently considered contact sports, are still being discussed with the governor’s office and Ohio Department of Health. The OHSAA maintained an update will be provided if either sport’s designation is changed.

The National Federation of State High School Associations lists cross country, with staggered starts, as a lower risk sport and field hockey under the moderate risk category.

If contact sports are approved for competition, the OHSAA will set requirements related to COVID-19 suggested by the governor’s office to follow for competition. The OHSAA will govern and issue consequences for violation of those policies.

In the event the fall seasons begin, are stopped and then resume, the OHSAA has plans to move to a modified fall sports season.

For now, the decision to participate remains with individual schools. Mentor is beginning its first football season under coach Matt Gray, and athletic director Jeff Cassella met with fall coaches during the afternoon of July 31.

“We’re going full-steam ahead,” Cassella said. “We’re going to give it a shot and continue maintaining protocols in place. We’re going to do that through the month of August and hope to have some school-to-school contact (i.e. games) at the end of the month.”

Football practices are allowed to begin Aug. 1 with the normal acclimatization period in place. No school versus school scrimmages are permitted, in line with a memo the OHSAA sent July 28. Competition will follow its normal permissible dates and regulations with the plan to being the week of Aug. 24.

The OHSAA noted the date is subject to change and approval of the governor’s office and department of health, and the stipulation that COVID-19 testing will not be required.

Golf is permitted on scrimmage before contests begin Aug. 5. Girls tennis is allowed a scrimmage after practice begins and prior to a team’s first match, with contests slated to being Aug. 7.

Volleyball, recently designated a non-contact sport, is permitted five scrimmages and one preview after practice begins. Competition starts Aug. 21.

A number of area schools will not be among those to start the fall season Aug. 1. The Cuyahoga County Board of Health recommended schools in the county begin the year operating remotely and with no extracurricular activities.

Mayfield City Schools announced it will begin the school year with nine weeks of virtual learning, and athletics will be postponed during that time.

“It’s a huge disappointment,” Mayfield athletic director Keith Leffler said. “I know how hard our kids and coaches have worked all summer with provisions and screenings. We’ve had a good plan in place . ... We have a lot of creative minds in northeastern Ohio and around the state. Maybe we can come up with some alternative plan for later in the fall. That’s my hope, of course.”

Euclid will also begin the school year virtually and athletics are suspended for the time being. Gilmour, Hawken and University announced the schools are “pausing” athletics for the time being.

Beachwood and Richmond Heights informed families the schools will begin the year remotely. Chagrin Falls has currently suspended athletics through Aug. 9 while it determines how to proceed. A post from South Euclid-Lyndhurst superintendent Linda Reid, whose district includes Brush High School, wrote the recommendations will lead to reopening plans being adjusted.

Ohio set a new singleday high of new cases of COVID-19 July 30, as 1,733 cases were reported to reach a total of 89,626 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

“If we were to delay, our students will find opportunities to compete in sports through non-school programs that may not be focused on safety and are not education-based,” Leffingwell said. “Should data on COVID-19 change and/or the Governor’s Office makes changes to our plan, we have flexibility that would allow us to look at implementing other models for our seasons.”