By K.D. Norris
The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) made clear this week that this week’s action to suspend the three remaining fall sports championship competitions was just that: a “suspension” and not a “cancellation.”
But by any definition, local high school athletic teams readying this week to continue their drives for state titles are at least on indefinite hold and at worst cancelled.
At East Kentwood High School, the girls swim team’s trip to the state swim finals this weekend is not going to happen. (See a WKTV video and story on the Falcons’s swim team here.)
And at South Christian, Coach Danny Brown’s football team will likely be idle for three weeks instead of playing a playoff game this week and getting shot at the 2020 Division 4 title.
“I feel terrible for the kids. They put so much into having a successful season and they keep getting knocked down,” Brown said to WKTV. “They are resilient and will get through this. My hope and prayer is we get to finish the season so these boys can get some closure on their season.”
Originally, the Sailors (8-1, including 3-0 in expanded playoff format games) were scheduled to play this Friday against Edwardsburg (8-0) in the regional finals, with the semifinals on Nov. 27 and the state finals scheduled for Dec. 4. (On Nov. 13, South Christian defeated Hamilton, 56-14, in the regional semifinals. WKTV was there with our featured game crew and the game is available on-demand at WKTVlive.org.)
Now South Christian will have to wait until later this week to find out plans from the MHSAA on the possible restart of the fall season championships after the current 3-week suspension of activities to comply with a new state orders.
On Nov. 15, the MHSAA announced it was suspending fall tournaments for girls volleyball, girls swimming & diving, and football, and all winter practices and competitions scheduled to begin over the next three weeks “per the emergency order to pause activity announced Sunday by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) to limit the spread of COVID-19.”
“Our plan for all our fall tournaments is that they are suspended, they are not cancelled,” Mark Uyl, executive director of the MHSAA, said Monday, Nov. 16, in a Zoom press conference. “Our goal as we started off this new athletic year was that we were going to find a way to have three (high school sports) seasons in 2020 and 21. … Our goals and plans have not changed.”
A more extensive excerpt from a Monday press conference with Uyl is at the top of this story.
The MHSAA action not only suspends local teams’ title hopes, it is another delay in winter sports practices and competition — including boys and girls basketball. Full practices for basketball was scheduled to begin this week, with some girls teams taking to the court for games the first week of December.
