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Date: 8/24/2020
EASTHAMPTON – While the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s (MIAA) Board of Directors approved a path forward for the start of most fall sports, whether Easthampton Public Schools will participate remains to be seen.
The MIAA appoved a plan submitted by the organization’s COVID-19 Task Force that called for four athletic seasons, starting with the fall from Sept. 18 to Nov. 20. The fall season includes sports such as soccer, gymnastics, field hockey, girls volleyball and golf.
However, football, along with fall cheerleading and unified basketball, will be moved to a “floating season” between the winter and spring seasons from Feb. 22 to April 25, 2021. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environemental Affairs (EEA) identified football, competitive cheer and basketball as high risk sports in its safety standards and guidance released on Aug. 17. In the meantime, participants in those sports may practice in accordance with EEA cohort conditions.
The winter season will run from Nov. 30 to Feb. 21, 2021 and the spring season will commence April 26 and run through July 3.
The Board of Directors also agreed to allow athletes to participate in all four seasons.
The MIAA will not host a postseason. Locally, the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference has made no announcement on whether there are plans for regional tournaments.
“The recommendations before us may not meet everyone’s expectations, but they provide a real opportunity for our students to take part in high school athletics for the first time in months,” said MIAA President Jeff Granatino.
The final decision on the district's participation in athletics this year is the School Committee's to make. The committee will meet on Aug. 25 and Athletic Director Brian Miller said he hopes to have the opportunity to discuss the matter with them before their vote. He indicated he is currently looking at the guidelines and trying to determine if the district can meet them.
“If they feel we are unable to provide a safe environment for our students, then it will be determined that fall sports are cancelled,” said Miller.
The School Committee voted to reopen schools with a phased approach that will keep students learning exclusively remotely from Sept. 14 to Oct. 9 before moving to the next phase in which special populations will be phased into the building. The final phase would move all student to hybrid learning on a tentative date of Nov. 4. The move from one phase to another would be based on local and state healht assessments, the first of which will take place Sept. 22.
Miller said the guidelines are very specific and not easy to adhere to in some instances so a determination much be made as to whether they can meet those standards and feel comfortable.
“I believe the atheltics this fall will place a significant role in maintaining a positive social and emotional mindset for our students, but we need to insure we can provide these activities in a safe setting,” said Miller.
During the fall season, Easthampton typically offers football, cheer, boys and girls soccer, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, and golf. Hampshire Regional High School also participates in football through a cooperative agreement with Easthampton.