Hockomock League Moves Girls Volleyball To Winter 'Wedge' Season

EASTON, MA — Girls volleyball players in the Hockomock League will have to wait until at least February to take the court after the league decided to move the sport to the late-winter "wedge" season starting in February due to coronavirus concerns.

Volleyball will join football and competitive cheer as other sports that will not be allowed to suit up next month. Oliver Ames athletic director Bill Matthews said the remaining sports, including soccer, field hockey, cross country running and golf, will be allowed to proceed with to-be-determined rules modifications designed to cut down on accidental contact and to maintain social distancing.

Boys & girls XC, golf, field hockey, boys & girls soccer are a GO for fall sports with tryouts starting 9/18. Football, cheer & vball moved to "wedge" season between winter & spring. Registration for fall sports will open soon so stay tuned.
— Bill Matthews (@OAHSTigersports) August 26, 2020

The Hockomock League includes Attleboro, Canton, Sharon, Foxborough, King Philip, Mansfield, Norton, Oliver Ames, Sharon and Stoughton.

"Student-athletes are so anxious to get out there and play that, while the modifications won't be easy, they will follow them rather than not play," Matthews told Patch last week. "It could be hard on the coaches. But it will probably be hardest on officials because we will need them to ref games with rules they are not used to reffing."

While many aspects of all fall sports the state has determined to be "lower risk" and "moderate risk" still face obstacles in their return to competition, volleyball was considered particularly problematic because it is the only fall sport contested indoors.

"Girls volleyball, as an indoor sport, has some very significant hurdles for high school programs to overcome," the Hockomock League foreshadowed in a statement last week.

The announcement comes as relatively good news for many Hockomock athletes after the Northeastern Conference moved all of its sports to the wedge season earlier this week due to virus considerations.

The Northeastern Conference includes Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott, as well as Gloucester, Lynn Classical, Lynn English, Masconomet, Saugus and Winthrop.

"The focus at this time is opening our schools as safely as possible," Masconomet Regional Principal Peter Delani posted in a statement on the NEC decision. "There will be time needed to ensure proper safeguards are in place, as well as working through procedures for a safe return just for school. Time is needed to work out safety protocols for extracurricular activities."

Matthews told Patch last week he also hoped the Hockomock League schools could work together on a plan that works for all of them given each individual community's situation.

"In the Hockomock League we have a stable group of schools that are used to working well with each other," Matthews said. "The goal would be to find consistent guidelines across the league with the understanding that each district makes its own decision. There may be times when there are sports that an individual school in the league may not be able to participate in."

The MIAA Board of Directors assigned individual sport task forces to come up with modifications to deliver to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Even in sports that are considered lesser-contact sports, the resulting modifications are likely to change the face of those sports as athletes have come to know them. The state is targeting Sept. 1 for the final modifications to be determined with a Sept. 18 start date for fall athletics.

The MIAA also voted on Aug. 18 to eliminate state tournaments for at least fall sports — reinforcing the idea that sports this year will be more about the experience to play than proving which team is the best day in and day out under a dramatically different landscape of rules.

Related Patch Coverage

• Athletes Take First Small Steps Back On The Fields In MA
• MA Coronavirus: 'Disheartening' Call Made To Cancel Spring Sports
• Coronavirus: MA Cancels State Basketball, Hockey Championships
• MA School Reopening: Masks, Remote Learning Plan Required