Turnovers … by Alan B. Gibson

Posted July 21, 2020 at 3:14 pm

High School sports are still not a lock

As COVID-19 cases spike across Kentucky and active cases increase right here in Clinton County, a lot of things become increasingly uncertain, especially the chances that we’re going to be seeing high school sports this winter.

As it stands now, officials with the KHSAA are still holding on to the hopes that our high school fall sports lineup will look as normal as possible in a few weeks.

Locally, there’s golf, volleyball, football and finally cross country in the fall lineup.

Whether we see any, all, or none of those games and matches is still to be determined and all will hinge on just how Kentucky does with the number of cases – rise, leveling or hopefully a reduction in new cases will determine just how the games will look in this fall lineup.

Going a step further, it will also make a difference in what we see in the winter lineup – basketball – and even this spring – baseball, softball, tennis.

Currently, with the case trend rising across the state at such an alarming level, I’m doubting things will look anything near normal this fall or winter in regards to high school sports.

Just this week, the Lexington Herald Leader reported that COVID-19 was making its way through the Hazard football program – a Class 1A school – with 18 players, three coaches and 17 additional related family members being infected. Needless to say, the Hazard Bulldog football program is shut down for at least another month.

Whether we have a full slate with fans, a short season with or without fans, or no season at all is still completely up in the air – regardless of what the KHSAA officials are spinning in order to make everyone feel good.

Along those lines, the KHSAA did release what it calls a “Healthy At Sports Position Statement” last week.

For what it’s worth – here’s what it says. What it means, well, I’ll leave that up to you.

As announcements are made across the country regarding the return to athletics or specific sports, our office will continue to be informed but not necessarily controlled or bound by decisions from other levels of play, as well as other state associations. This is a very fluid situation, and Kentucky data and discussions need to drive Kentucky decisions for the betterment of all involved in high school sports and sport-activities, as well as middle schools. Like most others, we are constantly receiving updated information from around the state and nation during this very dynamic period.

Our decisions in developing a Healthy at Sports timeline will continue to be made with the following primary goals and objectives in mind:

To always keep participant safety and risk minimization as a top priority;

To avoid a delay in the start of school and in-person learning;

To recognize the physical, mental and emotional benefits to the educational experience of student participation while representing your school;

To recognize the physical, mental and emotional benefits of strong coach-to-athlete and athlete-to-athlete relationships;

To have all sports and sport-activities and all three sports seasons in some way, shape, form, or fashion going forward;

To especially honor the devotion and commitment of those who lost spring 2020 participation opportunities by exhausting all options for a safe and healthy resumption of sports and sport activities.

We realize that it is an impossible task to please all parties involved but our staff and our Board of Control will continue to work with our partners in our member schools and school systems, the Governor’s Office, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Education, our own Sports Medicine Committee and with further guidance from the CDC, the NFHS and its committees to make the best possible decisions for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

In the meantime – no sports at all stinks!