The WIAA is contemplating one of five scenarios to adopt for high school sports when the fall session resumes. Whatever the WIAA decides on which course to take will no doubt coincide with what the OSPI decides to do in relation to Governor Jay Inslee's Safe Start plan. Last Wednesday, the five plans were presented and were discussed Sunday by the WIAA's committee.
According to Raymond HS Athletic Director Mike Tully, a prioritized list will be decided upon this week with a final decision taking place in mid-July.
Tully offered his interpretation of the five scenarios:
* Business as usual. Basically, seasons would start when they are scheduled to. Individual school districts will have to make a choice as to what they will allow to happen. It is possible that some schools decide not to offer some or all sports.
* Business as usual with the addition of time in August (1st-18th) for spring sport coaches to work with their athletes. Typically, the time from August 1st to the first day of fall practices is a dead period for coaching. I believe that this is being considered to make up for the time that spring sport coaches lost in April and May.
* Fall sports run from August 1st to October 31st with the potential for starting winter sports as late as January 4th. This scenario aligns with the current forecast of a spike in cases during November-December. It could also be possible to start winter sports as normal in November.
* Start fall sports on September 7th (the 4th for football) and finish fall sports as scheduled. This would give schools in the counties that are moving through the phases a little slower to have more time to Phase 4. This scenario would essentially cut the first couple weeks of the season. Football would have just enough practices to be able to play September 18th.
* Start fall sports on January 4th and finish spring sports around June 26th. This would require a condensing of seasons and more overlap than normal to squeeze all three seasons in six months. This would be tough to do for small schools that have to share most of their athletes with other sports.
Asked what scenario he would prefer the WIAA to choose for fall sports, Tully responded, "Best case scenario, we would be business as usual, but I don't know if that is reasonable to expect on a statewide level. I think the compressed year with fall sports starting in January would be really tough to pull off. I can't imagine starting football or soccer in January. The overlap in that scenario would be really tough for small schools that share a large number of athletes from sport to sport. Realistically, I would just like for kids to have the opportunity to play. I'd rather start a little early or a little late than have nothing at all."
Raymond-South Bend Volunteer Assistant Football Coach Tom Sanchez told the Herald, "It will be 'very' interesting to see what WIAA comes up with for athletics.
To a large extent, they are going to have to see what OSPI decides regarding schools opening, and how that affects everyday operations. I think we will have sports in some form, just not sure that every county or WIAA district will be equally open around the state."
Under the present schedule, high school football's first games are scheduled for Friday, September 4.