Photo: Detroit News
Livonia Churchill quarterback Gavin Brooks prepares to throw during the first organized practice since high school football was reinstated in Michigan.
After weeks of delays and uncertainty, volleyball, boys soccer, girls swimming, and field hockey teams across the state took the field and pool on Tuesday, Sept. 8, for competition and football teams began practice once again.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued Executive Order 176 on Thursday, Sept. 3, afternoon to lift restrictions from previous executive orders that paved the way to a return to a complete high school sports schedule in the state.
Shortly after Whitmer’s announcement, the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Representative Council voted to immediately reinstate the moderate- and high-risk sports of football, boys soccer, girls swimming, and volleyball. The Michigan High School Field Hockey Association also decided to restart play.
The “lower-risk sports” of cross country, girls golf and boys tennis already began competition in the Lower Peninsula. Cross country, boys soccer, girls tennis, and volleyball started in the Upper Peninsula.
The fall 2020 MHSAA tournaments for all sports other than football will be conducted as previously scheduled.
It is also expected that sideline cheerleading will be allowed this fall. Marching band, dance teams, and pom-pon teams are not currently included in the return to fall participation.
This week, several of the schools that had formerly cancelled their entire fall sports seasons, have changed course. East Lansing, Haslett, and Holt each reinstated their athletic programs. The Lansing School District, though, decided to keep sports and other extra-curricular activities postponed through at least Nov. 6.
One little-reported requirement from the state is that all players must wear masks during competition, with the exception of girls swimming.
The mask-wearing guidelines have caused confusion with coaches, athletic directors and players.
“The initial position that we took last week when the executive order came out was that everybody had to wear facial coverings simply because we didn’t want to risk losing sports over an executive order violation essentially, so we said everybody’s got to wear them,” MHSAA assistant director Brent Rice told MLive.
The MHSAA is seeking clarification from Gov. Whitmer’s office as to whether or not there are exceptions to the executive order as they relate to active participation, medical conditions, hindrance to aerobic activity or sport-specific issues.
The MHSAA issued a statement on Tuesday, Sept. 8, that game officials for outdoor and indoor high school sports are not required to wear facial coverings when in active participation and carrying out their duties, though facial coverings (both masks and shields) are permitted on the field of play if/as the individual official chooses, and officials should wear facial coverings while at an MHSAA member facility upon arrival, before the contest, during intermissions away from the field of play and following the contest (until they leave the facility).
The guidance from the MHSAA also instructed officials that they continue to have no role in the enforcement of facial coverings for players, coaches or spectators. That responsibility falls on the school.
Per the MHSAA’s 2020 Return to Play Guidelines, last updated Sept. 4, facial coverings must be worn by everyone at all times. That included athletes participating on the field/court and personnel not currently in the game – athletes, coaches, managers, trainers, statisticians, media and anybody else on the sideline. It also includes game managers, school administrators and staff, spectators, and officials.
The new executive order also set spectator limits of two per participant for outdoor and indoor events.
Football teams previously had been allowed to practice in helmets only during the traditional first week of practice, which began Aug. 10, and then during council-approved offseason “contact” days beginning Aug. 24. With the reinstatement of this fall’s season, football teams were allowed to begin practice again on Tuesday, Sept. 8, then practice two days in helmets and shoulder pads before adding full pads on Thursday, Sept. 10, according to the MHSAA.
Teams may then begin their regular-season schedule on Sept. 18 and will play six games beginning with their originally planned Week 4 contests. All football teams in 11- and eight-player football will qualify for the playoffs during this fall’s shortened season, and then advance through
their usual postseason progression with eight-player championships on
Additional coverage:
> Lansing State Journal: East Lansing reinstates football, volleyball, swimming and boys soccer
> Detroit Free Press: Get ready: Michigan high school football season will begin with a bang
> Detroit News: Area high school football teams 'feel the energy' in return to practice field
> Oakland Press: Rejuvenated football teams get back to practice on Tuesday
> MLive: Coaches, players ecstatic, anxious, apologetic as football practice returned Tuesday
the weekend of Nov. 27-28 and the 11-player championships the weekend of Dec. 4-5.
One of the reasons for allowing each team into the playoffs is the reality of some players testing positive for COVID-19 during the season.
“If a school does have a positive test and they have to quarantine and have to miss a week a game,” Uyl said, “none of that is going to be dependent on you getting into the tournament or not.”
As of now, the MHSAA has no idea whether the 11-player format will be a five- or six-week playoff. In the past, the playoffs lasted five rounds, but the MHSAA is doubling the size of the playoffs, hence the possible need for an extra week.
“We want to do this without impacting winter sports,” Uyl said. “So there could even be a scenario where maybe instead of eight divisions we go to 10 if that would allow you to continue to keep the playoffs to five weeks.”
The MHSAA is aware the coronavirus is still out there and school districts will have to deal with athletes who test positive.
“The virus isn’t going away tomorrow,” Uyl said. “What all of us have to realize is that this is part of the new normal. We have to be able to take positive cases and handle them appropriately and still figure out a way that we can continue to educate kids and continue to allow kids to play and do all those things.”
When athletes do test positive, those cases will be dealt with at the local level.
“Whenever a school has a positive case, the school works with their local health department,” he said. “From what we understand there are some consistent guidelines and contact trace with that and then they determine who has to quarantine and the length of that.”
Gov. Whitmer urged caution as teams return to the field.
“As we begin to start organized sports back up again, I urge school districts and athletic associations to do everything in their power to protect players, coaches, and staff. That means carefully following the guidelines released today,” Gov. Whitmer said in a statement on Thursday. “Going forward, we will continue to work with health experts to assess the risk associated with business sectors that remain closed. For the health and safety of our families and frontline workers, it is crucial that we proceed thoughtfully and incrementally so we can measure the effects of today's actions before we take additional steps towards re-engagement."
