Fall Sports Gets A Thumbs Up From IHSAA
May 13, 2020 at 1:10 a.m.
Fall Sports Gets A Thumbs Up From IHSAA
By Roger Grossman-
Hoosiers rejoiced!
The statement came, as it should have, with the disclaimer that things could change and we could be right back in “hunker down” mode again.
But, based on the governor’s plan, we are on pace to be back on a relatively-normal track by the time we flip the calendar over to July.
As I said last week, coaches are going to break out in hives by not having access to their players like they have in the past in June. But they will have them in July.
In their announcement, the IHSAA also said that the “Moratorium Week” would be waived this year.
Moratorium Week is the week on the calendar that includes Independence Day, and it’s the one week of the year where high school coaches and athletes are not allowed to participate in official activities.
This year, however, the silence has been going on long enough and athletic departments are gearing up for a return to action July 1.
What does this mean?
Well, it goes without saying that fall sports teams that will have new coaches will be at a significant disadvantage to those whose coaches are returning. Golf and cross country will likely be impacted less — runners run on their own during the summer and golf coaches only get one practice before their matches start anyway.
Teams that replace large graduating classes with less-experienced players will also be behind schedule, but not to the same extent as kids trying to learn a new system under a new coach.
It also means conflicts in availability are inevitable.
I would guess 95% of families have set their vacation plans for the summer by now. Those plans were carefully crafted around team camps, summer workouts, scrimmages and summer league schedules with the intention of having the kids at as many things as possible and still get away.
With some restrictions still in place for June, and the summer improvement window condensed to July, there will be a lot of pressure on kids, their families and their coaches for those 31 days.
Coaches are going to have to understand that they are going to share these kids with other teams they might be on and to family commitments. It’s going to be hard to ask a kid to give up a family trip for a week of workouts, right?
Families who can adjust their plans from July to June should try really hard to do that. No criticism here. No guilt trip intended. But if you were planning to camp in July and the area you want to go to will be open in June, maybe you could make a phone call and switch your date.
And we all will have to take a dose of patience with us into the fall sports season. Things are probably not going to go as smoothly as they would have any other year.
That means we should expect more mistakes. Things are going to wrong. They just are!
More than any other year, there will be a huge learning curve from mid-August to mid-September in all of the sports.
But man, will it good to be back at work … assuming we all do our part and put COVID-19 in our rear view mirror.
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Hoosiers rejoiced!
The statement came, as it should have, with the disclaimer that things could change and we could be right back in “hunker down” mode again.
But, based on the governor’s plan, we are on pace to be back on a relatively-normal track by the time we flip the calendar over to July.
As I said last week, coaches are going to break out in hives by not having access to their players like they have in the past in June. But they will have them in July.
In their announcement, the IHSAA also said that the “Moratorium Week” would be waived this year.
Moratorium Week is the week on the calendar that includes Independence Day, and it’s the one week of the year where high school coaches and athletes are not allowed to participate in official activities.
This year, however, the silence has been going on long enough and athletic departments are gearing up for a return to action July 1.
What does this mean?
Well, it goes without saying that fall sports teams that will have new coaches will be at a significant disadvantage to those whose coaches are returning. Golf and cross country will likely be impacted less — runners run on their own during the summer and golf coaches only get one practice before their matches start anyway.
Teams that replace large graduating classes with less-experienced players will also be behind schedule, but not to the same extent as kids trying to learn a new system under a new coach.
It also means conflicts in availability are inevitable.
I would guess 95% of families have set their vacation plans for the summer by now. Those plans were carefully crafted around team camps, summer workouts, scrimmages and summer league schedules with the intention of having the kids at as many things as possible and still get away.
With some restrictions still in place for June, and the summer improvement window condensed to July, there will be a lot of pressure on kids, their families and their coaches for those 31 days.
Coaches are going to have to understand that they are going to share these kids with other teams they might be on and to family commitments. It’s going to be hard to ask a kid to give up a family trip for a week of workouts, right?
Families who can adjust their plans from July to June should try really hard to do that. No criticism here. No guilt trip intended. But if you were planning to camp in July and the area you want to go to will be open in June, maybe you could make a phone call and switch your date.
And we all will have to take a dose of patience with us into the fall sports season. Things are probably not going to go as smoothly as they would have any other year.
That means we should expect more mistakes. Things are going to wrong. They just are!
More than any other year, there will be a huge learning curve from mid-August to mid-September in all of the sports.
But man, will it good to be back at work … assuming we all do our part and put COVID-19 in our rear view mirror.
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