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WIAA will remain flexible as it establishes early ready-to-play guidelines for high school sports

State organization says it is currently planning on starting 2020 fall season as scheduled

By Tim Martinez, Columbian Assistant Sports Editor
Published: June 10, 2020, 4:18pm

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association will remain flexible and not adopt an all-or-nothing approach when it comes to resuming high school sports in the fall amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

That was the biggest takeaway from a set of philosophical guidelines the WIAA Executive Board released Wednesday regarding anticipated reopening of schools and activities for the 2020-21 school year.

The 2020-21 athletic calendar is scheduled to begin on Aug. 19 for practices for football and Aug. 24 for all other fall sports.

“At this time, the WIAA plans to begin the fall season as scheduled but is also examining a delayed start of Sept. 7 (Sept. 5 for football) as its primary contingency option,” the release stated.

That will remain the case even if some larger schools or schools in urban areas of the state opt to return to school with distance learning only.

“The WIAA intends to conduct all scheduled fall athletic/activities that are approved by the (state) department of health,” the release said.

It is possible that some sports could be played in normal or close-to-normal regular seasons, while other sports would have to resort to modified seasons or even no seasons at all.

The WIAA has begun work on creating return-to-play guidelines on a sport-by-sport basis. Committees of coaches, administrators, officials and students from around the state have been formed to provide input on how to tackle issues unique to each sport.

Locally, Mike Bemis, who coaches swimming for Camas and Washougal, will serve on the swimming committee. Mark Morris athletic director Robert Blackman and Heritage coach Dave Pilcher will serve on the cheer committee. Union student Hunter Nunes will serve on the dance/drill committee.

If there are COVID-19 “hot spots”  in the state forcing some schools to completely halt all activities, the regular seasons or even state championships won’t be shut down statewide.

“Although not ideal, the WIAA intends to conduct a regular season and/or championships even if all schools are not able to participate,” the WIAA said.

With input from the committees, the WIAA is also exploring possible modified seasons or modified rules to keep sports going while adhering to state health guidelines.

“The WIAA Executive Board and staff recognizes that participation will need to take place in a setting that does not jeopardize the health and well-being of students or their communities,” the release said, “which is why we will continue to think creatively as an organization while also working with health officials at the state level.”

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