DENVER – High school athletics will be split into four seasons and sports teams’ schedules will be shortened under the calendar for the year released Tuesday by the Colorado High School Activities Association.
Contact sports, including football, girls volleyball and others, have been moved to later in the year, while boys golf, softball, boys tennis and cross country will all take place this fall as originally scheduled – the “A” season.
There will be a nearly three-month moratorium on high school athletics and activities from Oct. 18 to Jan. 3, as CHSAA said that the state is predicting “a likely resurgence of COVID-19 cases in late fall.”
“Season B” includes basketball, ice hockey, skiing, spirit, girls swimming and wrestling, and will start Jan. 4 and run to March 6.
“Season C” will start March 1 and finish by May 1, CHSAA said, and will include football, field hockey, gymnastics, boys soccer, unified bowling and girls volleyball.
CHSAA says that football practices will begin Feb. 22 and conclude on May 8 “due to the specific equipment and safety rules.”
“Season D” will include baseball, girls golf, boys and girls lacrosse, girls soccer, girls tennis, boys swimming, track and field, and boys volleyball. Practices for those sports would begin April 26 and the seasons would conclude by June 26.
Most of the seasons for each respective sports have been shortened as well to accommodate for the tighter schedule.
"While I am disappointed we cannot play this fall, I appreciate the fact, given the parameters of engagement, that CHSAA has done everything they can do to allow all of our students in all of our extracurricular activities to have a season in the 2020-21 school year,” Cherry Creek football coach Dave Logan said in a statement.
The CHSAA said that it received a final response on the plan it submitted to Colorado’s COVID-19 response team Tuesday after a phone call with Gov. Jared Polis.
It said that modifications specific to sports, practice and game requirements and other procedures would be sent out by Thursday and that the resumption of activities and athletics are subject to change based on guidance from local, state, or federal authorities surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
"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 in a statement. "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."
Gov. Jared Polis said in a news conference Tuesday afternoon he was glad that CHSAA had been able to find a way to allow every sport to have a season, calling it “an important milestone for high school athletes.”
He acknowledged that the seasons will look much different from normal seasons, and that some sports and schools would likely have to deal with pauses due to coronavirus cases, but said that having high school and other sports take place was “an important part of who we are.”
The governor said he would be personally attending the first sports event held in the state in coming weeks.
Click here for the full calendar and schedule for each season and sport.
