Massachusetts School Sports Face Many Obstacles In Hopeful Return

HINGHAM, MA — Although coaches and athletes celebrated the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Directors' vote on Wednesday to authorize some form of most fall school sports in the state starting next month, there remain many high hurdles to clear in a very short period for any schools to be playing any games in the state this fall.

The MIAA not only agreed to move "higher-risk" sports — such as football and competitive cheer — to a wedge season starting in February, but agreed to implement what could be significant modifications to "moderate-risk" sports — such as soccer and field hockey — that could make them hard to recognize for coaches and athletes, and perhaps ultimately impractical when it comes to competitive games between communities with conflicting coronavirus test rates and learning models to start the school year.

"A lot of people saw that (news) release and thought we were good to go," Oliver Ames Athletic Director Bill Matthews told Patch on Thursday. "But there are a lot of decisions still to be made and a tremendous amount of work to do for each school on each issue on how to go from here.

"We ask for patience in understanding that these decisions were made at the very highest levels of the state very late. Now we have to move quickly because there is not a lot of time left."

The MIAA Board of Directors directed individual sport task forces to come up with modifications to deliver to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Those modifications will be designed to minimize accidental contact and keep athletes at least 6 feet apart whenever possible.

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.

"What we have now is a framework to work from," Matthews cautioned. "But there are a lot of contentious issues now we are dealing with at this point in time when it comes to which sports we would field. Football has been moved to the wedge season, but that doesn't mean we can play all the other ones. As leagues and districts, we have to decide what is feasible and under what conditions do we play them."

Getting Back On The Field

Hingham Athletic Director Jim Quatromoni said the Patriot League administrators will meet on Friday to discuss likely modifications and work on scheduling that may not be ideal, but will be the best it can be under the circumstances.

"Our goal is to think about how to safely provide as many opportunities to our athletes as we can," Quatromoni said. "When we look at where we've been (with the coronavirus), and where we hope to go safely, I think any spring athlete from last year will tell you that playing something simulating a game, and being around coaches and teammates, is better than not playing at all and being home."

Matthews said he believes those involved will make the necessary concessions on the contact modifications to be allowed to play.

"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 said. "It could be hard on the coaches. But it will probably be hardest on officials because we will need them to ref the games with rules they are not used to reffing."

The MIAA voted on Wednesday 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.

Several Road Blocks Remain

The Hockomock League Athletic Directors Association, which includes Attleboro, Canton, Mansfield, Norton, Sharon and Oliver Ames, issued a statement on Thursday that included questioning whether girls volleyball might be one of those sports in danger of being pushed off until later in the school year.

"Girls volleyball, as an indoor sport, has some very significant hurdles for high school programs to overcome," the statement allowed.

Quatromoni said one modification might be that volleyball is a sport played where all girls must play wearing masks at all times.

Girls swimming is the other indoor fall sport that, while a largely individual sport that could be socially distanced, could be hard to reconcile in communities that are either not allowing students back in the classrooms at all under full-remote learning models, or only a few hours a day in stable pods in hybrid-learning models.

"That is a very important aspect of it," Matthews said. "In remote-only, what policies will they have to allow athletes to participate? Even in hybrid models (with a choice option), what decision do we make about those parents who choose to not have their children physically attend school."

Transportation is also daunting, with bus availability in communities strained due to capacity limits.

Matthews said in Easton that means a maximum of 24 athletes per bus, when traditionally the 50 athletes combined on varsity and sub-varsity soccer teams would travel to another town together, while Quatromoni said Hingham may look into having families travel to away games on their own.

"That's always a little uncomfortable," Quatromoni said. "But when you look at this, and come to each new step, they are all lousy (options)."

Teamwork The Key To Success

Yet another consideration is the variance between virus levels in each community. Parents in a town like Easton or Hingham might feel comfortable with their athletes around fellow soccer players from those towns due to school and town compliance when it comes to coronavirus-related protocols, but what happens if they are scheduled to face another school from a community that has more fluctuation in numbers to the higher side?

"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."

Quatromoni said he is approaching the idea of competitions between towns "cautiously," but also pragmatically.

"We just want to reinforce the precautions knowing that in many cases these kids are already playing something anyway," he said, "whether you are with a group that has been going to New Hampshire to play (where competitions are currently allowed), playing in the park or playing in the backyard with your friends. We just stress to them that the precautions are there for a reason and you need to adhere to them. You hope to put the protocols in place and that everybody abides by them."

Matthews said at Oliver Ames the message is to stay ready and do what you can to make sure fellow athletes and teammates are doing everything they can not to put fall athletics in any additional jeopardy.

"I want them to be preparing themselves to be ready to play," Matthews said. "If you are a football player looking at the wedge season, considering playing another sport in the fall. We want as many students involved in as many sports as we can as long as we can do it safely.

"And for student-athletes we urge them to follow the established guidelines when it comes to social distancing and mask-wearing and eliminating direct physical contact," he concluded. "All these things will help prevent an outbreak in the community and help keep them on the field."

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