Fall, Winter Sports Seasons Postponed For Maryland High Schools

MARYLAND — High school athletes across the state are dejectedly hanging up their cleats and tossing aside their running shoes now that the fall and winter sports seasons in the first semester have been postponed. The fall sports season was set to kick off Aug. 12 with tryouts.

The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association announced Monday the delay of the 2020 high school fall and winter competition season during the first semester. Sports played during the fall season under the MPSSAA are field hockey, football, volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls soccer, and golf. The winter sports that fall during the first semester are boys and girls basketball, wrestling and indoor track and field.

Last month, the Howard County Public School System and Anne Arundel County Public Schools announced they were delaying the start of the fall season. Prince George's County canceled its fall sports season. Montgomery County, the largest school district in the state with 25 high schools, canceled its fall and winter sports seasons last month.

Local school systems can use MPSSAA waiver regulations as approved by the Maryland State Board of Education on June 23 for student engagement to occur during the first semester. The MPSSAA, the Maryland Department of Health and the Public School Superintendent Association of Maryland will finalize a hybrid two-semester plan focused on student engagement options in the first semester and modified competition seasons for all sports during the second semester.

Details of the hybrid two-semester plan will be available in the coming weeks before the start of the 2020-2021 academic year.

"The health and safety of student participants, coaches and officials is a primary concern for the return of interscholastic athletics and activities. The MPSSAA, the PSSAM and the Maryland State Department of Education collectively share a commitment for the return of these highly beneficial educational programs when it is deemed safe for all school communities," the organization said.