MSHSAA to allow schools not meeting in person to play

MSHSAA opened the door for fall sports to start on time at all schools around the state, announcing a change to its bylaws Wednesday for the upcoming school year.

In July, the organization that oversees sports and activities in Missouri had said that only schools that hold in-person classes could practice or compete.

But as the number of COVID-19 cases statewide reached record numbers and districts were forced to start the school year with students online, the MSHSAA Board of Directors met virtually Tuesday afternoon to discuss possible changes.

“The Board discussed a request made by member schools to grant relief of the MSHSAA Constitution, under the Hardship Provision of the MSHSAA Constitution, for the 2020-21 school year only,” MSHSAA said in a statement.

Fall sports set to start practice Monday around the state with the first contests scheduled in three weeks on August 28.

The Board waved the requirement for member schools to provide instruction in a building, allowing those districts to begin the school year or transitions to virtual instruction, “provided they are following all health department requirement and phases, if applicable.”

Member schools can now determine if its teams will participate in MSHSAA activities while students are receiving virtual instruction only, “while following all requirements and guidelines set forth by their health department officials.”

The Board also granted two requests for relief of By-laws, one to have an option for a two-team jamboree prior to the start of contests and another concerning the minimum number of contests needed for postseason play.

Under By-law 5.1.2, a school must compete in at least half of the number of contests permitted for a sport.

“Given the sudden changes that may occur during the season, the Board voted to grant relief of this section of the by-laws to allow teams that complete less than half of their scheduled contests to remain eligible for the postseason.”

That will allow a team that must suspended their season due to an outbreak, or if opponents are forced to cancel games.

MSHSAA also changed the release date for district assignments for the fall season, moving it from August 21 to September 18. Schools will have until September 11 to notify MSHSAA if they have a sport that will not be able to participate in the postseason.

“Those teams that will not be participating in the postseason will be removed from the classification process for that specific sport,” MSHSAA said in a statement.

In March, MSHSAA cancelled the Show-Me Showdown basketball championships for large schools after limiting spectators at the state finals for small schools. Spring sports were later canceled.

At that time, the state was averaging 350 new confirmed cases day and there were less than 200 deaths associated with the virus. Currently, the seven-day average for new cases is 1,241 with 1,273 total deaths.

Illinois recently pushed back its football season to the spring and will only compete in lower-risk sports during the fall such as golf, tennis, cross country and swimming. The switched forced the cancelation of Poplar Bluff’s first football game against O’Fallon, Illinois.

Poplar Bluff will now open the season August 28 at home against Agape Boarding High School from Stockton, Missouri.

Until the change in policy, the previous guidelines released by MSHSAA would have kept many schools on the sideline and made the state playoffs much smaller.

“With the changing face of the start of the school year for our member schools, the board and staff want to discuss possibilities that would allow as many students to participate as safely as possible,” Kerwin Urhahn, MSHSAA executive director, said Monday in a statement. “The association wants to work with schools to provide as many opportunities as possible.”