COVID-19 concerns end spring sports for NCHSAA, NCISAA schools.
There will be no high school athletics in North Carolina for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.
N.C. Independent Schools executive director Homar Ramirez has canceled the remainder of the 2020 high school spring sports season for the state’s 94 private schools.
The N.C. High School Athletic Association, which has more than 400 schools, is doing the same after N.C. Governor Roy Cooper announced Friday that the state’s public schools will remain closed for the remainder of the year.
The changes also means the NCHSAA state basketball championships, which were postponed last month, will not be played. Five Observer-area teams had qualified for the finals: boys teams from North Mecklenburg, Freedom and Shelby; and girls teams from Newton-Conover and Vance.
“Today’s decision is difficult for the NCHSAA Board of Directors and Staff,” said NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker. “We empathize with the thousands of student-athletes, especially graduating seniors, coaching staffs, officials and family members affected by this decision. However, this decision reflects a commitment to keeping our student-athletes, officials and member schools’ staffs and their communities safe, while following the guidelines provided by the Governor and his team, along with the Department of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education.”
The NCHSAA Board of Directors will meet next week. Among discussion topics will be how to finalize the state basketball playoffs, likely declaring Eastern and Western Regional champions or co-state champions, as well as addressing policies for summer activities and academic eligibility concerns for Fall 2020.
“We had maintained hope for a conclusion to our state basketball championships and a modified spring sports season to help return a sense of normalcy to our communities,” Tucker said. “Now, as we continue to deal with this difficult time, we must do so by applying the lessons that education-based athletics teaches us: cooperation, patience, sacrifice, responsibility, perseverance and resilience. Together, we will be able to put a ‘W’ in the win column.”
Private school order, breakdown
Ramirez’s order for private schools means there will be no conference or state championships, no all-state teams and no Wells Fargo Cup winners for top overall programs.
“No matter how much we prepare ourselves,” Ramirez said, “the reality is these are disappointing times. Our hope is that your community is healthy and safe and we look forward to making plans for the future.”
Most NCISAA spring sports teams had only played a handful of games before play was suspended last month when the COVID-19 outbreak began to draw headlines in North Carolina. Public and private schools have been closed in the state for weeks and no games have been played.
Ramirez’s office is planning video calls with member school athletic directors to discuss fall contingency plans should coronavirus potentially impact sports then.
“There’s a strong possibility,” Ramirez said, “that we’re dealing with this pandemic in the fall.”
Ramirez said the NCISAA would consider playing games in the fall without fans. Asked if he would think about postponing the start of football season, something a group of NCAA athletic directors thinks could happen in college, Ramirez said that would be difficult.
“I think we’re going to consider every idea,” he said. “The difference between a high school association and the NCAA is that we’re dealing with the high school athlete who isn’t just a football or just a basketball player. We have to take into account the multi-faceted sports program. What would football look like in the spring with soccer and lacrosse all needing the same fields and creating those unintended consequences?”
Ramirez said only 34 of the 94 NCISAA schools play football, and unlike most N.C. public schools in the N.C. High School Athletic Association, football is not the primary driver of revenue for sports program. So if the football calendar next fall was postponed or worse, it wouldn’t have nearly the same effect on member schools as it might their public school counterparts.
“But I still think having sports, as soon as we can, is extremely important,” Ramirez said, “for the healing process for our young people in the communities. Athletics has always served in that role and we understand there is going to be some sort of new normal, but we see a return to athletics as somewhat of a return to normalcy. We want the kids to play.”
This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 1:32 PM.
