By Michael Letendre
The scholastic start of the winter sports season has been postponed by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference due to rising COVID-19 numbers.
But the decision made on Tuesday has not outright cancelled the winter campaign as the CIAC voted to start practice for those sports on Tuesday, January 19.
December 5 was originally targeted as the date for medium risk sports to commence while high risk sports were to begin practice at the start of the New Year.
Obviously, with the pandemic on the rise in Connecticut, scholastic sports will take a mandatory rest for just about two months.
That date will continue to be fluid as the metrics improve or fall into more dangerous rates.
“The CIAC Board of Control acted this morning to postpone all winter sports to January 19, 2021,” said CIAC executive director Glenn Lungarini said in an email. The CIAC Board of Control will continue to collaborate with the DPH, Governor Lamont’s office, and the CSMS Sports Medicine Committee in the weeks leading up to the January 19th start of winter practices. CIAC Interscholastic athletics are an education-based experience that maintains in-person learning and the health and safety of our school communities as our top priority. Today’s action supports our member schools while they continue to manage rising COVID numbers within their communities and experience widespread movements to distance learning.”
That January 19 date can be pushed back again if Gov. Ned Lamont’s office, the Department of Health, or the CSMS Sports Medicine Committee feel that the environment is not safe for scholastic sports over the coming weeks and months.
And it will not be business as usual if the winter season begins on the proposed January date.
Moderate-risk indoor sports in Bristol, meaning basketball and indoor track and field, will see its players wearing masks during competitions.
Special mask timeouts will be introduced during those hardwood contests and expect similar attendance – such as limited family – at those moderate-risk indoor venues as well.
The CIAC’s classification of high risk sports – wrestling and cheer and dance – would not sanction a December practice start date and the ability to carry out those scholastic programs is still not entirely clear.
Between now and January 19, several decisions on high-risk sports will have to be made along with how to protect the athletes in each sport if the green light is given.
And the actual number of schools that will carry winter sports is unknown at this time because of towns who are using distance learning instead of classroom settings.
Home school eliminates practice time in gymnasiums.
Cities like Waterbury do not have many students in school due to positive COVID tests and distance learning, making a December start date for practice an impossibility for a conference such as the Naugatuck Valley League.
The January 19th start date should see a number of school systems have students attending class in person – if the COVID metrics allow it.
The true unknown is how the pushback on the winter campaign will affect the rumored spring football season that was slated to begin towards the end of February.
States around New England and New York have already postponed winter postseasons while other medium risk sports will commence at the end of November in some of those areas.
Connecticut’s postseason plans have not yet been made or established.
