Can NC HS Sports start on time this fall? Comiss says it’s ‘difficult’

[Longdayrunner]

Can NC high school sports start on time this fall? Commissioner says it’s ‘difficult’
BY LANGSTON WERTZ JR.
JULY 07, 2020 02:18 PM


N.C. High School Athletic Association commissioner Que Tucker spent a few hours Monday on a video conference call with superintendents and principals across the state.

“We were talking about how to safely do anything,” Tucker told the Observer. “How to eat, ride the bus, get into the (school) building and in the classroom. And I was on there talking about athletics. Based on what I hear as it relates to just getting school underway Aug. 17, it would be difficult in my mind to think we would be able to say, ‘Oh absolutely we’re going to start all sports, of any kind, on Aug. 1.’ But that’s based on me being a classroom teacher and knowing what’s entailed in opening up school under normal circumstances and it’s just difficult for me to envision we can do anything (with athletics) prior to school starting.”

Tucker will hold a media session, via video-conference, Wednesday at 11. It’s unclear what she’ll be announcing, but could be related to at least postponing the start of fall sports practice.

Tucker told the Observer that the NCHSAA planned to survey its more than 400 member schools Tuesday to find out which ones had started voluntary summer workouts for fall sports and which had not. Tucker believes that only around 20 percent of schools are participating right now.

Union County Schools began workouts Monday. Cabarrus County plans to start July 20. Mecklenburg and Wake County, the state’s two largest systems, originally targeted a July 6 start date — about three weeks after the NCHSAA allowed teams to return June 15. But last week, Mecklenburg Schools and Wake announced they would postpone again, due to coronavirus concerns. Neither has announced a new date.

As of now, the official start date for high school practice is Aug. 1 and teams could begin playing Aug. 17.

Tucker said it will be hard to make serious plans about the upcoming season until she hears how N.C. Governor Roy Cooper will open schools.

“We’ve always had very consistent start dates for all our member schools,” Tucker said. “This year, it’s Aug. 1 (fall sports), Nov. 2 (winter) and Feb. 15 (spring). Now what do we do if (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools) says on Aug. 17, ‘We’re going to start remote learning only,’ but Guilford County says, ‘Oh no, we’ll go 50 percent’ and then you have another system that says ‘we’ll go remote learning as well?’ ”

Tucker said if a system goes all remote learning, having sports there might be difficult.

“It depends,” she said. “If you have remote learning, how could you let people play, because remote learning says, ‘We don’t think it’s safe enough for students to be in the building.’ If you don’t think it’s safe enough to be in the building, is it safe enough to be in the locker room, on the field, in gyms? It’s all tied together.”

Tucker said the NCHSAA is formulating multiple plans for sports, including pushing back the start of practice to Aug. 15 or even Sept. 1. Some states, including Texas and Virginia, have begun to talk about potentially moving high school football season to the spring. Tucker said that wouldn’t be a foreign thought in North Carolina, either.

“You always have to have that on the table,” she said. “It’s possible if we don’t play fall sports. What I want to know is if we don’t (play traditional sports this fall), is it right to assume we might be able to play second semester, and if we could then, what do you do? Until we know what the Governor is going to say about reopening schools, we can’t give (any plans). That’s the hardest thing for people to understand. They think we’re going to tell the Governor and (N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary) Mandy Cohen what to do and what they’ll say on TV. It doesn’t work that way.”

[Longdayrunner]

Live from NCHSAA news conference Wednesday, July 8 2020

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/high-school/article244079132.html

BY LANGSTON WERTZ JR.
JULY 08, 2020 11:00 AM , UPDATED 15 MINUTES AGO


The N.C. High School Athletic Association called a special news conference Wednesday, July 8 to discuss sports. Here are live updates.

- Today’s meeting is to get more information from the association and to ask questions. This is more because they are getting lots of requests for interviews and are planning more videoconferences in future.

No major announcements today.

- Commissioner Que Tucker said the NCHSAA believes academics comes first and “we know everyone wnats a decision about whether or not will fall sports start on time...will Friday night lights be on in our state, starting in August or September. We simply cannot give you that answer at this time.”

- Tucker said it’s difficult to return to competition unless students return to schools.

- Tucker said they will do the best they can to give students and opportunity to be onthe field and exploring ways to “make tweaks” to offer scholastic sports opportunities in this climate. She said the NCHSAA has many plans, from inside office, other states and coaches. But “until we know how schools will reopen we’ll work behind scenes to determine the best path forward.”

- Tucker said the association will have to adjust if the state opens under Gov Cooper’s Plan B or C. She said Plan B is most concerning because it says 50 percent in school on rotating basis. If it’s Plan C, remote learning, does that mean they can’t be on campus because it’s unsafe or high school are being used for elementary and middle schools.

“A lot of factors play into decisions we make,” Tucker said.

- Tucker said once Cooper makes his announcement, then they can have “a better feel” of if they can start practice Aug. 1, Aug. 15 or even Sept. 1. She said the association is open to starting the season later with a shortened season, a shortened playoff and even just a conference championship ending the season.

- Asked about football in spring, Tucker said spring athletes are not working out now and said the entire membership would have to buy in to a flip flop of seasons.

- Tucker is aware of athletes participating in live travel sports. “I can’t control what Mommas and Daddies allow their children to do on the weekends. Is that concerning? Yes. Especially if we’re not practicing the three Ws.”

- Tucker said the NCHSAA applied and received a PPP loan to help protect payroll so it would not have to layoff anyone and “provide the same level of member service to member schools.”

Tucker said it was close to a $150,000. She said funds were used to pay staff members and we anticipated the loan will be forgiven.

- Tucker said four cases of COVID-19 have been reported by schools since workouts began June 15 but those cases were traced and determined to not have begun on campus.

- Tucker said schools participating in workouts right now don’t have advantages over schools that are not because teams are not engaging in live activities. She feels like when the official practice date is announced, all schools “will have ample time to catch up.”
-- Tucker: Biggest challenge for fall plans is flexibility given to individual systems. She thinks some might have flex schedules, some remote. Bus concerns could be an issue getting kids from home to practice. How to get teams to games?

- Could kids get an extra year? Tucker said, “Today, I don’t see that as possibility” due to NCHSAA and state rules around age. Said board talked briefly about that in April. Said other state commissioners have discussed but not much traction to allow it at this time.

She said the board would have to address it and membership would have to be questioned about it.