Sports have provided a sense of normalcy to many people in a time when, due to COVID-19, things have been anything but normal. For winter sport athletes, that return to normalcy will be delayed.
In a statement released Thursday, Nov. 19, the Arizona Athletic Association announced that winter sports will begin after the new year, no earlier than Tuesday, Jan. 5.
“At a special meeting of the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s Executive Board on Thursday, the board members voted to postpone the beginning of the winter sports competition season to a permissible start date of Jan. 5, 2021,” the statement said. The last permissible day of competition for winter sports will be Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, which includes any play-in competitions.”
Schools also must complete at least 14 days of practice before returning to a given sport.
The decision from the executive board — comprised of administrators from various schools — is in line with the recommendation made by the AIA to the board on Monday, Nov. 16.
“We feel that the students are safer within the school environment than not to be in school at all,” AIA Executive Director David Hines said in the statement. “Delaying the start of the season will give our coaches and administrators time to implement safety protocols and put sports modifications in place. Just like getting fall sports off the ground, doing things the right way will allow for our sports to continue.”
He added that “the executive board felt it was necessary to fight for these students to have a chance. They see the need in the schools they are representing.”
What does it mean for postseason qualification?
Rules for postseason qualification will be determined by the leaders of each individual conference. Leaders will meet as soon as possible to determine procedures to qualify for the postseason as well as minimums for the number of games played.
Will spectators be permitted?
Presently, no. The statement read that “No fans will be permitted until metrics are appropriate. AIA staff will be communicating with schools and districts statewide to evaluate readiness on a regular basis.”
This is a deviation from fall sports, which left it up to each individual school.
Can student athletes continue to participate in club sports during the extended hiatus?
Not without penalty.
“If a student-athlete participates with a non-school team/group, that student-athlete is excluded from practice and competit-ion with the school team for 14 days since the last practice or competition of the non-school team/group,” the AIA statement said.
What does it mean for spring sports?
The beginning of spring sports practices has been pushed back one week. It was originally scheduled for Monday, Feb. 8. Now the first day of official spring sport practice is Monday, Feb. 15. Presently, the AIA spring sports championship season calendar remains intact.
As is the case with everything related to COVID-19, this situation remains fluid. The most recent updates can be found at AZpreps365.com as well as AIAonline.org. The situation will continue to be updated in the Camp Verde Journal and Cottonwood Journal Extra as well as online at Journalaz.com.
Individual schools will continue to determine whether press is permitted at games. During the fall sports season, all of the schools in the coverage area allowed media to be present. As long as that continues, we will keep covering as many games as possible.
