NORTH CAROLINA — The North Carolina high school fall sports season has been delayed until at least September 1 in response to Governor Roy Cooper’s Tuesday announcement of the reopening plan for the 2020-2021 school year, NCHSAA says.
Governor Cooper along with health officials said that schools will open for in-person instruction under an updated Plan B that requires face coverings for all K-12 students, fewer children in the classroom, measures to ensure social distancing for everyone in the building and other safety protocols.
“We know that schools provide much more than academic lessons. They support children’s social, emotional and physical development,” Gov. Cooper said.
In addition, the governor indicated in the announcement that the NCHSAA would be making the decisions relative to sports.
On July 15, the NCHSAA Board of Directors approved the following rule and calendar changes:
- The start of NCHSAA fall sports is delayed until at least September 1.
- The first five (5) student days of the 2020-2021 school year will be designated as a “dead period” for ALL sports, allowing school staff to focus on the start of school.
- NCHSAA Phase One of the summer conditioning and workouts will continue until further notice.
NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker made the following statement about the reopening plan for North Carolina schools and the fall sports season:
“For now, we believe these steps provide hope for our student-athletes, and the possibility for playing fall sports We know that many decisions are being made relative to the reopening plan your school(s) will follow. After each LEA has had an opportunity to formalize and finalize those reopening plans, the NCHSAA Staff will survey the membership to determine how sports should and/or can fit into the various models that will exist across the state. Please understand this delayed start date is not “in cement” and can be delayed even further if we do not have improved data from DHHS, or some other reason exists for delaying further into September or beyond.
We acknowledge that playing certain sports are more problematic at any time without a vaccine; however, we remain in consultation with our Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) members, and they believe we can and should offer a sports program, with all necessary modifications, delays, etc. In the coming weeks, we will continue working with the SMAC as we plan our next steps for the fall, as well as determining when equipment could be shared—i.e. balls— and/or if we can move into Phase 2 of the summer workouts/conditioning.
Each NCHSAA Board Member believes in the value of education-based athletics and is committed to SAFELY offering a fall, winter, and spring sports program during this school year; however, there is also a commitment to the health and safety of students and coaches. Towards this end, we all will continue to follow the guidance of the Department of Health and Human Services relative to the data and how we all safely move forward.
We are in this together, and we will play again!”
For Additional Information:
Click here for information on NC Gov. Cooper’s announcement about the reopening of schools across the state.
