Colorado High School Activities Association unveiled its modified 2020-21 interscholastic athletics and activities calendar, Tuesday afternoon.
Cross country will be allowed in the fall season, joining boys golf, cross country and boys tennis.
All other sports will take place after the holiday break, with shortened seasons allowing all the sports to be played by the end of June 2021.
Among sports relevant to this area, football and girls volleyball will be played in the spring, rather than the fall. Basketball and wrestling will begin in early January, and baseball, track and field and girls golf will be held in May through late June.
“The health and safety of our student participants, coaches, officials and essential personnel, including volunteers is a primary concern for the return of interscholastic athletics and activities,” said CHSAA Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green. “We are very grateful for the state, health and educational leaders for their shared commitment of a return to these highly beneficial education programs when it is deemed safe for all school communities.”
Tuesday’s announcement followed months of collaboration with Gov. Jared Polis, the CHSAA Resocialization Task Force, the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, the state’s COVID-19 Response team, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and the CHSAA Board of Directors and administrative staff.
It was stressed that the resumption of all activities and athletics are subject to change based upon any changes to national, state or local guidelines.
The 2020-21 season will be played with a modified sport schedule due to the on-going global pandemic, creating four separate sports seasons during the school year.
Following a phone call with Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday, Blanford-Green and CHSAA received a final response on the plan it submitted to the state’s COVID response team. This includes the clearance for cross country to begin this fall.
Due to the restrictive nature of the current state guidelines, and the ability to follow Colorado Department of Education requirements, all contact sports have been moved to a season which will commence later in the calendar, and allow for playoffs and culminating events without creating new conflicts.
“We would like to thank our member schools and our school communities for their patience as we worked through the many challenges to get to where we are today,” Blanford-Green said.
The modified calendar splits sports into four seasons, concluding in late June: A, B, C and D.
Each season will be approximately seven weeks from start to finish. Regular season competition limits will be reduced. The postseason for each sport also will be shortened, including the number of state qualifiers.
Boys golf already began this week, softball will begin official practices on Monday, August 10, and cross country on August 12.
The sports played this fall will be concluded by October 17.
Then there will be a participation moratorium from October 18, 2020 to January 3, 2021, in anticipation of data from the state which shows a likely resurgence of COVID-19 cases in late fall.
Sports in Season B will be from January 4 to March 6. These sports are basketball, wrestling, spirit, ice hockey, skiing and girls swimming.
“We knew there were going to be changes this year,” Yuma boys basketball coach Dave Sheffield said. “The biggest thing as far as sports are concerned is that kids will have a chance to compete this year. Even with this modified schedule, it will give them something to look forward to during this time.”
Yuma girls coach Jeremy Robinson said: “It’s obviously not ideal or what we are used to, but it is better than not having anything at all.”
Yuma wrestling head coach Kyle Newton said he wanted to study it more before commenting.
Season C begins on March 1 and concludes with championships by May 1. This season will include football, girls volleyball, field hockey, gymnastics, boys soccer and unified bowling.
“I’m just happy the kids are getting a season,” Yuma football coach Kelly Seward said. “I’m hoping we can stay healthy and they don’t shut us down.”
Seward maintained his sense of humor, wryly adding: “Seems to me a cold February and March would be great for a double wing football team.”
“The prospect that we’ll have a season is better than the alternative,” Yuma volleyball coach Jenny Noble said.
Season D will push the high school sports calendar into late June for the first time ever. Practice will begin April 26, and concludes with the final championships on June 26. These sports include baseball, track and field, and girls golf, along with boys and girls lacrosse, girls soccer, girls tennis, boys swimming, and boys volleyball.
Specific sport modifications, practice requirements, game requirements and procedures will be communicated by today, Thursday, August 6, including in bulletins that can be found on CHSAANow.com.
Max contests in regular season
• Softball, 16;
• Cross Country, seven;
• Boys golf, 198 holes;
• Basketball, 13 (1A-3A); 16 (4A/5A);
• Wrestling, seven duals plus seven days;
• Football, seven;
• Girls Volleyball, 16;
• Baseball, 16 (2A-5A), 13 (1A);
• Girls golf, 198 holes;
• Track and Field, eight.
