PREP SPORTS: IHSAA leaves open option of extending spring sports season ... Suspension of high school games, practices extended through April 20

Suspension of high school games, practices extended through April 20

The Idaho High School Activities Association said Tuesday it would be willing to extend the spring sports season if that’s what its member schools want.

Whether teams will get the OK to resume practices and games in time to complete the season before it’s too late, well that remains to be seen.

On Tuesday, the IHSAA Board of Control met via webinar and decided to extend its mandatory suspension/postponement of spring sports activies through April 20, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It all depends on what the schools might want,” IHSAA executive director Ty Jones told The Press. “How far do you go into summer?”

On March 16, the IHSAA originally suspended spring sports activities, effective March 17, through April 5.

The Idaho State Board of Education recently recommended a “soft closure” of schools through April 20.

State tournaments in all spring sports are scheduled the week of May 11-16. The IHSAA had earlier said it will not reschedule those events for later in the spring.

But that stance has softened.

“Everything is on the table as far as potential dates for tournaments,” Jones said. “Moving state and district tournaments will impact graduations, time out of school and tournament logistics. If our schools are interested in moving them we would listen, though.”

Jones said he plans to reach out to schools this week to gauge their interest in extending the spring sports season. He said the IHSAA has already reached out to some superintendents, and “some are not interested” in extending the season, and “some are.”

No area team has competed in an event since March 14.

“I definitely would not be opposed to it; I would take every step we could to honor our seniors,” Coeur d’Alene High athletic director Mike Randles said of extending the spring season. “I wouldn’t be opposed to going into the first or second week of June, but I would have to canvas our coaches.”

Many school coaches haven’t been in the same building for more nearly three weeks.

“If the parents and kids want to push it back, it wouldn’t bother me,” Lake City athletic director Jim Winger said. “I’ll go as long (into the summer) as it takes. I feel bad for all the athletes, but particularly for the seniors.”

Jones said he understands the sentiment for salvaging at least some of a spring sports season. He said pushing the seasons back could run into conflicts with high school graduations, and not all schools might be willing to reschedule graduations around games. Plus there’s the thought of whether seniors want to continue to play high school sports after they’ve already graduated.

In any event ...

“This is a completely different scenario than we’ve ever imagined,” Jones said.

He said the IHSAA does not have a set date for when it would have to decide whether or not to pull the plug on spring sports.

“Everything is very fluid right now and we are exploring all avenues,” he said. “Hopefully we get a chance to continue, but we simply don’t know right now.”

Health experts are recommending people stay at home through at least April 30 in an attempt to help “flatten the curve.”

“I’m really hoping we can get back,” Winger said. “But the whole country’s got to get healthy before we can start worrying about high school sports.”