WIAA alters 2020-21 sports schedule with first competitions in February
November 20, 2020
Jack Jassy
Jack Jassy
In March of 2020, the spring season for high school sports in Washington was cancelled and there has yet to be any Garfield sports since. Over the summer, a schedule was released that would have four seasons that were in the fall, winter, early spring, and late spring. This was pushed back to a winter, early spring, and late spring just before the beginning of school. Now, there has been another alteration which pushes the winter season back to February 1st and shortening each season to a total of seven weeks(including playoffs and pre-practice).
This new schedule is set to have winter sports start on February 1st, traditional fall sports start on March 15th, and Spring sports starting on April 26th. Each sport will start with a week of PP: Pre-Practice before competitions and then begin with five weeks of competition before the State Tournament. Sports have been put into different categories based on the amount of health risk comes with playing it. Low risk sports are ones that are outdoors and can easily be distanced, Moderate risk are sports either outdoor or can be relatively distanced indoor, and high risk sports are close contact sports.
Low Risk Sports: Golf, Tennis, Cross Country, Swim and Dive, Track and Field.
Moderate Risk Sports: Baseball, Softball, Gymnastics, Soccer, Volleyball.
High Risk Sports: Basketball, Football, Wrestling.
This sports season is still very much in question, and the fact that the season has been moved back twice is a dangerous sign for high school sports in the 2020-21 season. This new schedule change was approved at a meeting on November 2nd from the executive board for the WIAA. Although seasons will only be seven weeks long at this point, seven week seasons are better than no season and will come with very competitive races for top spots. Out of season practices have been held for certain teams including football and baseball which should provide hope for getting back to playing in competitions.
This new schedule is set to have winter sports start on February 1st, traditional fall sports start on March 15th, and Spring sports starting on April 26th. Each sport will start with a week of PP: Pre-Practice before competitions and then begin with five weeks of competition before the State Tournament. Sports have been put into different categories based on the amount of health risk comes with playing it. Low risk sports are ones that are outdoors and can easily be distanced, Moderate risk are sports either outdoor or can be relatively distanced indoor, and high risk sports are close contact sports.
Low Risk Sports: Golf, Tennis, Cross Country, Swim and Dive, Track and Field.
Moderate Risk Sports: Baseball, Softball, Gymnastics, Soccer, Volleyball.
High Risk Sports: Basketball, Football, Wrestling.
This sports season is still very much in question, and the fact that the season has been moved back twice is a dangerous sign for high school sports in the 2020-21 season. This new schedule change was approved at a meeting on November 2nd from the executive board for the WIAA. Although seasons will only be seven weeks long at this point, seven week seasons are better than no season and will come with very competitive races for top spots. Out of season practices have been held for certain teams including football and baseball which should provide hope for getting back to playing in competitions.