Hawaii and Delaware are the latest states to move the fall high school sports season to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, upping the total to an even dozen thus far. The Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association board unanimously voted Thursday morning to push back all its sports a day after Hawaii cited a recent spike in COVID-19 cases to place football, cross country, cheer and girls volleyball to January.
Delaware condensed the fall sports season to be played in between shortened winter and spring seasons. Fall sports, including football, would start mid-February with games between March 12 and April 21. Winter sports would run from January to mid-February, while the spring sports calendar would begin in April and end in mid-June.
In Hawaii, no new calendar was released nor information on how the delay would affect winter and spring sports.
As of Thursday morning, 38 states still plan to play football in the fall, while 12 states plus the District of Columbia, have moved it to the winter or spring of 2021.
In other state news concerning COVID-19:
* Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf recommended Thursday at a press conference that high school sports shouldn't be played in 2020.
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, which has offered three different starts to the fall season beginning with Week 0 football games on Aug. 28, immediately organized a meeting and released this statement:
"Today, Governor Wolf issued a statement of strongly recommending no interscholastic and recreational sports until January 1. We are tremendously disappointed in this decision. Our member schools have worked diligently to develop health and safety plans to allow students the safe return to interscholastic athletics."
The PIAA will meet with the Board of Directors Friday to review the action, and plan to make an official public statement immediately afterward.
* The North Carolina High School Athletic Association informed members Thursday that the 2020 fall sports season will be postponed beyond Sept. 1, but has not given new dates. North Carolina's public sports governing body hopes to have starting dates released by Aug. 17.
Thursday's announcement comes a day after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper paused the state's Phase 2 opening at least five weeks to Sept. 11. "Unfortunately, this announcement means that the start of sports for the 2020-21 school year will be delayed beyond Sept. 1 for NCHSAA member schools,"
a NCHSAA release read. "We want to play sports during this upcoming school year and are making plans to do so, However, the health and safety of all participants, including coaches and other essential staff, will be a priority as decisions and plans are made."
* North Carolina's largely private school governing body, the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association, also announced plans to to push back the fall season following Cooper's plan. Football will be delayed until at least Sept. 11, while lower risk sports such as girls golf and tennis and cross country may begin games and scrimmages the week of Sept. 8. Field hockey, girls volleyball and boys soccer may begin scrimmages and games the week of Sept. 14.
* Indiana announced Thursday that it would allow spectators to attend high school sporting events at the discretion of the host school.
Mililani finished 8-5 in 2019 and reached the Hawaii Division I Open Division semifinals.
Photo by Heston Quan
