NLC Develops Plan For Revised Spring Sports Schedules
March 21, 2020 at 12:19 a.m.
NLC Develops Plan For Revised Spring Sports Schedules
By Mark Howe-
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Thursday schools will remain closed until May 1. IHSAA Commissioner Bobby Cox then sent a memo saying, in part, teams will need to conduct five preseason practices, half the usual number, before beginning competition.
Larry Kissinger, Goshen athletic director and secretary/treasurer for the NLC, said conference ADs met via teleconference Friday morning to determine spring sports schedules. They came up with the following plans:
• Baseball and softball will play seven conference games, half the usual number, to determine a conference champion.
• The conference would host a meet for all its boys track and field teams at Concord High School May 9, while Goshen hosts a meet for NLC girls and other teams invited to the Goshen Relays at the same time. Those meets will be used for seeding contestants for the official conference meets (boys and girls) at Goshen May 12.
Normally, a series of round-robin meets are combined with the conference meet results are used to determine a championship team. This year, only the May 12 meets will determine the boys and girls champs.
• The girls tennis schedule will remain unchanged, as the majority of the regular season schedule will have passed for the most part by the time schools would reopen. Teams might get one, maybe two meets in before the NLC Tournament set for May 13-15 at Concord. Sectionals would then begin May 20.
• The boys golf schedule will remain unchanged.
The only winter sport not completed before the pandemic was boys basketball, and after the governor announced the extended school closures (the original return date was April 13), Cox announced the remainder of the boys basketball tournament was cancelled. The IHSAA had held out hope of completing it, and holds similar hope to contest a partial spring sports season.
College athletics, beginning with the NCAA last week, has cancelled spring sports at all levels. In-season professional sports are on hold during the pandemic, with no definite dates for resumption. Major League Baseball was to begin its regular season next week, but will not until May 1 at the earliest. Professional basketball and hockey leagues are on hold, and won’t return before mid-May.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Thursday schools will remain closed until May 1. IHSAA Commissioner Bobby Cox then sent a memo saying, in part, teams will need to conduct five preseason practices, half the usual number, before beginning competition.
Larry Kissinger, Goshen athletic director and secretary/treasurer for the NLC, said conference ADs met via teleconference Friday morning to determine spring sports schedules. They came up with the following plans:
• Baseball and softball will play seven conference games, half the usual number, to determine a conference champion.
• The conference would host a meet for all its boys track and field teams at Concord High School May 9, while Goshen hosts a meet for NLC girls and other teams invited to the Goshen Relays at the same time. Those meets will be used for seeding contestants for the official conference meets (boys and girls) at Goshen May 12.
Normally, a series of round-robin meets are combined with the conference meet results are used to determine a championship team. This year, only the May 12 meets will determine the boys and girls champs.
• The girls tennis schedule will remain unchanged, as the majority of the regular season schedule will have passed for the most part by the time schools would reopen. Teams might get one, maybe two meets in before the NLC Tournament set for May 13-15 at Concord. Sectionals would then begin May 20.
• The boys golf schedule will remain unchanged.
The only winter sport not completed before the pandemic was boys basketball, and after the governor announced the extended school closures (the original return date was April 13), Cox announced the remainder of the boys basketball tournament was cancelled. The IHSAA had held out hope of completing it, and holds similar hope to contest a partial spring sports season.
College athletics, beginning with the NCAA last week, has cancelled spring sports at all levels. In-season professional sports are on hold during the pandemic, with no definite dates for resumption. Major League Baseball was to begin its regular season next week, but will not until May 1 at the earliest. Professional basketball and hockey leagues are on hold, and won’t return before mid-May.
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