Will they be able to play?

Hoping upon hope that it’s a go, just as all the prep athletes, coaches and fans are also hoping; the Montana High School Association (MHSA) released its plans for still conducting sports and other sponsored school activities this fall during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.

If all went perfectly, sports practices and competitions (with a few exceptions) could be on schedule this fall, with many, many details included in the MHSA operating plan.

Although the plan could turn out to be little more than wishful thinking depending on what happens with the growing pandemic in Montana over the next several weeks, the MHSA documentation at least gives schools an idea of the task that lies ahead in conducting sports seasons while also maintaining Phase Two guidelines as implemented by the state of Montana.

The bottom line is that a large share of the onus of making sports work in 2020 will fall on the individual schools, who will be charged with policing their activities in the described manner.

“The MHSA Executive Board believes that the resumption of sports and other activities is crucial to the growth, development, and mental and emotional wellness of our Montana youth,” Mark Beckman, MHSA executive director, wrote in a press release. “We believe that the safety and well-being of our student activity participants is paramount.”

Under the MHSA plan, a five-tier system was devised to help schools decide which COVID-19 restrictions to implement and when. The five assigned tiers address whether the season will be interrupted or not, and how those interruptions will be handled.

Under Tier 1 guidelines, sports seasons and practices will begin as scheduled, and games and competitions will be held as originally set. The exceptions under Tier 1 would be no multi-team events (triangulars, invitational tournaments, etc., excepting cross country and golf) and the post season could feature the possible separation of sites.

Tier 2 regulations would involve the delayed start or interruption of seasons, and all non-conference games would be cancelled in this scenario. Again, no multi-team events would be held, and the post season could be held as scheduled, albeit with the possible separation of playoff sites.

Tier 3 regulations would deal with seasons being interrupted for a longer period of time. This could result in shortened conference schedules on top of restrictions implemented under Tier 2.

Tier 4 requirements would involve a mid-season interruption of activities and an even further reduction of allowed contests/events. Tier 5 would address a long interruption that would eliminate most of the regular season activities, and force the MHSA and participating schools into adjusted dates, formats and possible sites (depending on the location of virus outbreaks) for post season events.

During all tiers identified by the MHSA, all schools must follow the governor’s phase directives, state and local health department directives regarding fan attendance (including limiting crowd size, social distancing, enforcing the mask requirement, facility cleaning, sanitizing, etc.), travel requirements (maximum busing numbers, mask wearing, etc.) and MHSA sport-specific guidelines.

The MHSA has prepared requirements/considerations documents for each individual sport or activity sponsored by the organization.

Although it is unclear how much time and work the MHSA’s return-to-sports blueprint will require from each school, the list of requirements/considerations for each sport is lengthy and possibly problematic.

For the safe playing of football, for example, practices should be conducted in what are described as “pods” or “bubbles” with the same athletes working out together to limit overall exposure. In addition, players, coaches and administrators involved would also be expected to wash and sanitize their hands as much as possible.

Out-of-state competition would be eliminated in 2020 unless by special approval by the MHSA Executive Director.

Social distancing of 6 feet while on the field or court of play would be expected when possible, and also during timeouts and warmup periods.

Cloth facial covering for all involved would be allowed, but only of a single color and unadorned, the football would be cleaned and sanitized throughout the game and administrators would be required to limit the number of non-essential personnel present.

Local health department guidelines and restrictions would need to be followed at all MHSA-sanctioned events. The MHSA guiding document for football goes on to describe protocols for pre and post game requirements, coin toss and overtime procedures and various game and officiating rules.

At press time it was unclear as to how the MHSA plan would affect high school sports programs in Sanders County this fall.