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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

UPDATED: Prep football and volleyball return for fall seasons

David Colburn
Posted 9/23/20

REGIONAL- Area schools are suddenly gearing up for sports seasons they didn’t anticipate before spring. That comes in the wake of the decision by the Minnesota State High School League board of …

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UPDATED: Prep football and volleyball return for fall seasons

Posted

REGIONAL- Area schools are suddenly gearing up for sports seasons they didn’t anticipate before spring. That comes in the wake of the decision by the Minnesota State High School League board of directors on Monday, to move football and volleyball back to their traditional fall season, reversing a decision they made just six weeks ago to decrease the threat of exposure to COVID-19 for athletes, coaches, and spectators.
The decision was met with widespread enthusiasm.
“I’m excited that we have a ‘for sure’ season and a set of games,” North Woods head football coach Joel Anderson said on Tuesday. “I think it’s something that’s owed to our kids, owed to our seniors. The morale is high, player participation is good, and we’re excited to be back to playing football.”
“I am hopeful our football and volleyball teams will be competing soon,” Ely ISD 696 Athletic Director Tom Coombe said.
Monday’s MSHSL board meeting drew keen interest throughout the state, as the league’s teleconferencing system hit its maximum capacity of 500 participants. Countless others followed the live Twitter feed of MSHSL staff writer John Millea, who said in a podcast following the meeting that he had added over 3,000 followers to his account because of the issue. Others kept track of developments through the Let Them Play MN Facebook page, a group advocating for a return to normalcy for school sports that has attracted nearly 20,000 followers.
While little has changed in terms of medical information related to COVID-19 and sports since the board’s Aug. 2 decision to move football and volleyball to the spring, several things contributed to the MSHSL convening a special meeting Monday.
Thirty-seven states, including all of the states surrounding Minnesota - Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota – have already been playing high school football. In collegiate football, the Big 10 Conference recently rescinded a decision to cancel its football season, joining most other major college conferences in resuming competition.
Meanwhile, in a survey of MSHSL-member schools, four out of five responded that they wanted football and volleyball put back into the fall semester.
“This is what the majority of people wanted,” Millea said on TalkNorth’s Preps Today podcast. “There are a minority of people that are mad the decision was reversed. I think most of it was just outside pressure on this board. When they made the initial decision Aug. 4, none of our surrounding states had made any decisions about fall sports. Subsequently they all just decided to go ahead with their fall sports. I think the last nail in the coffin was the Big 10 bringing football back. That just adds to the pressure.”
State Health Commissioner Jan Malcom gave a measured statement of approval to the decision at a Monday afternoon press conference.
“From a pure public health risk protection perspective, we know there is a lot of viral activity in the community, and it’s at a high enough level that we would prefer not to have events that would gather more people and create more opportunity for transmission,” Malcom said. “However, we know outdoor environments are safer, and we certainly know how important these activities are to the student athletes, to their families, and to the community.It’s a risk calculation and there are certainly trade-offs in risks and benefits. Even though we might weight the scales a little differently in terms of that risk-reward trade-off, we certainly recognize there are positives to youth sports as well. We respect the high school league’s decision.”
New seasons
The plan, which fits within COVID-19 guidance of the Minnesota Department of Health, will have an approved football season beginning on Monday, Sept. 28 with the first of six regular season games scheduled for the week of Oct. 5. A planned two-week football postseason will begin the week of Nov. 16.
Volleyball will begin an 11-week season on Sept. 28 with a limit of 14 dual matches that can begin on Oct. 8. Two weeks of postseason play would begin the week of Nov. 30.
While many are disappointed that state championships aren’t a part of the postseason picture, Millea said they wouldn’t be viable in the current environment.
“Anybody who is holding out for state tournaments this fall, I think you’re barking at the moon a little bit because I don’t think that’s in the cards,” Millea said. “There are no dollars in the current budget for fall state tournaments that can’t pay for themselves. Each sport has been given a two-week time frame for playoffs. Normally section tournaments take at least that long, so I can’t see any way we’re going to be able to have state tournaments like we’re used to in football and volleyball.”
But local school representatives still welcome the opportunity to compete.
“In most years, if somebody had told me I’d be playing in November I’d have been ecstatic,” Anderson said, referring to the traditional month for a state championship run. “I wish this decision would have happened sooner. It’s going to be interesting to be playing football throughout the entire month of October and into November. After [Monday’s] vote, my focus has shifted to preparing for now instead of March.”
The Ely and North Woods football teams will both have three home and three away contests, with the postseason format still to be determined. Ely’s first game will be at South Ridge on Oct. 9, while Anderson was awaiting final approval before releasing the Grizzlies’ schedule, which will likely have a game scheduled Oct. 9 as well.
Ely Superintendent Erik Erie said what is on the minds of every coach and school administrator who wants to ensure a safe competitive experience for student-athletes and spectators alike.
“We will be following strict protocols for the coronavirus by the league, the Minnesota Department of Health and our school district,” he said.
Current Department of Health standards will prevent spectators from attending indoor volleyball matches and will limit total spectator capacity at football games to 250 or less, although efforts are being made by some to have those restrictions eased or eliminated.
Other sports
Six MSHSL activities are currently taking place across the state, including girls tennis, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls soccer and girls swimming and diving. Those activities began on Aug. 17 with additional safety protocols and practices as well as modified seasons, which decreased the length of the season by 20 percent and the number of contests by 30 percent.
The decisions related to fall sports could offer some clues as to what may be ahead for winter sports, including hockey, boys and girls basketball and Nordic skiing in Ely. All are currently scheduled to begin practice sessions in November, with games and contests starting later that month or early-December, depending on the activity. Approving the complete calendar for the remainder of the school year will be addressed by the MSHSL board at an Oct. 1 meeting.
Ely Timberjay Editor Keith Vandervort contributed to this story.