Nevada on Thursday became the fifth state to move the fall season to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association pushed winter sports back to a January start and the spring calendar to an April beginning.
A release by the NIAA said specific schedule for leagues and/or regions withing the framework of the revised schedules will be created and implemented by the leagues and/or regions in each sport.
Among the changes:
• Winter season sports — practices begin Jan. 2, 2021; first contests may be held Jan. 15; last contests Feb. 20.
• Fall season sports — practices begin Feb. 20 (expect football which starts Feb. 13); first contest on March 5; last contest April 10.
• Spring sports — practices begin April 3; first contest on April 16; last contest May 22.
Each season will be six weeks in duration and playoffs will be at the discretion of the individual regions. The NIAA does not anticipate state championships will be held.
Other states that have moved all or some of its sports to the winter and spring of 2021 are California, New Mexico, Virginia and Washington, along with the District of Columbia.
Of those, only Washington plans to keep some lower-risk sports going into the fall — cross country, slowpitch softball and girls swimming, golf and tennis.
Story. On Monday, California squeezed all three of its seasons into a two-pronged, January-through-June calendar with football starting up around New Year.
Story.
This was the second big announcement to come out of Nevada in a week.
On July 17, tournament director Bob Kelly announced the 2020 Durango Fall Classic — arguably the nation's top high school volleyball tournament held annually in Las Vegas — will not be played. Kelly said plans are already in place for the event to return Sept. 17-18, 2021.
Nevada is home to one of the nation's top football powers Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), which had a streak of 10 consecutive state titles snapped last season by Liberty (Henderson).
Centennial (Las Vegas) is the defending 4A state champion.
Photo by Jules Karney
