Anyone else a little nervous.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by sdoebler

We have already spread basketball out over all six playing days available to address the shortage of officials and days with too many games. Losing officials to other sports and not having days available to play games would be very difficult.

Not really, at least for HS sports. ~70% of the games for HS basketball are on Tue/Fri. There almost never any on Sunday. The other 30% are spread across Mon/Wed/Thur/Sat. This is based on a sampling of not only my local organization but a few other randomly chosen organizations that use RefTown. We could easily absorb more games on the off days....or could give up multi-sport officials on those off days if the other sports were on them.

Originally Posted by sdoebler

There could easily be a reduction in total games for teams, but that is yet to be determined.

That would help and may very well be the direction it goes.

Originally Posted by sdoebler

On the other end our main assignor said he expects a large influx of officials due to the amount of people in the gig economy that have lost work and hours.

I would normally expect that too, but this is different. Again, using actual data from more than one organization around the country, the number of info requests or registrations that are normally seen through the spring and into the summer for basketball organizations are a fraction of what they normally are. Perhaps it is merely delayed and once things settle down, it will pick back up, but, as it stands now, fewer people are signing up than normal.

[sdoebler]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

Not really, at least for HS sports. ~70% of the games for HS basketball are on Tue/Fri. There almost never any on Sunday. The other 30% are spread across Mon/Wed/Thur/Sat. This is based on a sampling of not only my local organization but a few other randomly chosen organizations that use RefTown. We could easily absorb more games on the off days....or could give up multi-sport officials on those off days if the other sports were on them.

Colorado has already spread games evenly out over the six days available (Sunday no games played) We identify pre season every day that has more then 50 varsity games scheduled and reach out to the schools to adjust.

[BillyMac]

Here's the latest idea being bounced around here in Connecticut.

Have school sports teams, coaching, practices, etc., just no interscholastic games, only intrasquad games (not intramurals (there will be tryouts, certified coaches, school uniforms, officials, etc.) and not to be called scrimmages (because these would have all the attributes of interscholastic games, scoreboards, uniforms, officials, fans, cheerleaders, band, etc., minus other school opponents).

Student athletes would get almost all the educational advantages of participating on a school team, teamwork, character building, physical exercise, etc., with the health advantages of being in a school "bubble" (contact tracing, etc.) and not having the health issues associated with crowded bus rides to physically interact with student athletes from another town or school.

Proponents say that this is better than having nothing.

From the Hartford Courant:

Dr. Sten Vermund, a pediatrician, epidemiologist and the dean of the Yale School of Public Health, told The Courant last week, “The whole concept of hygiene is kind of irrelevant on the sports field. At the end of the day, physical distancing is not possible.”

Dr. Ezekial Emanuel, part of the Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group, said Thursday, “I think contact sports are not a good idea. You can’t have a bubble in high school (sports). You have transportation; you have a lot of things that are going to complicate having a football season. I think for one year, we’re probably going to have to take a miss on it.”

Push most everything off the athletic docket for calendar year 2020.

Or just allow athletic operations to proceed as they normally would — without games.

I know I just pulled the chain on a light bulb that many of you will want to break over my head, but hear me out.

Conversation supporting the need for the resumption of high school sports in the fall has centered largely on the well-being of student-athletes and all that is lost in the absence of organized athletics — structure, discipline, camaraderie, confidence and on and on with what’s obvious.

There it was again in the CIAC’s introduction to its plan, those sentiments buttressed by the contention that “in-person instruction, education-based interscholastic athletics, and other cocurricular activities … are critical to the cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and mental health of our students.”

No doubt. No question. No argument here. Sports, for many, are the backbone of an adolescent foundation and educational experience and, yes, thousands of kids have already been robbed of something irreplaceable.

So set sports off and running, to an extent. We need the programs, the coaches, the teammates, the teaching, the learning, the coming together, the self-discovery, the experience. We just don’t need the actual games right now.

Practice, gather, learn, teach, plan — and devote would-be game days to intrasquad scrimmages or even group community service initiatives voted on by team members. Make what you can of a situation still worth embracing. We want our students, first and foremost, to receive a diversified education and rewarding experience, and that can be accomplished without the few hours of actual competition, without the thrill of victory or sting of defeat, without finding out which teams fit into inevitably bizarre playoff scenarios that haven’t even yet been developed.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Here's the latest idea being bounced around here in Connecticut. Have school sports teams, coaching, practices, etc., just no interscholastic games, only intrasquad games (not intramurals (there will be tryouts, certified coaches, school uniforms, officials, etc.) and not to be called scrimmages (because these would have all the attributes of interscholastic games, scoreboards, uniforms, officials, fans, cheerleaders, band, etc., minus other school opponents).

From the NFHS:

... the overarching reason that high schools and state associations are working with government, education and health leaders to offer these programs is that many students desperately need these activities. The experience of playing on a high school team may be one of the only positive aspects of their lives, and the high school coach or director of a speech or music group may be the only positive role model they have.

In some cases, the opportunity to play sports is the chief motivator to attend classes, graduate, obtain a job and begin a life on their own. Regardless of whether the structure is the same as in the past, or if the same number of games are played or even if state championships occur, the continuance of these programs is crucial. And, in recent meetings with leaders of state associations, finances or concerns about state championships are not the primary topic.

In all cases, minimizing risks to students, coaches, officials and others is the No. 1 consideration in conducting high school sports. However, with students now disengaged from activities for five months, the physical health concerns of the virus must be weighed against the psychological health concerns of being separated from school and activities.

A state-by-state review of plans for conducting sports and activities substantiates the herculean efforts by state associations to offer all sports at some point during the 2020-21 school year.

The latest NFHS 2020-21 Sports Seasons Modifications map indicates that 31 state associations have altered their sports offerings to some degree for the coming year. Those modifications range from states that are delaying fall sports by a few weeks, to 10 states that will not be playing football until the winter or spring seasons, and five state associations (California, District of Columbia), Maryland, Nevada, Virginia) that will not have any sports until at least December.

Decisions on re-opening of schools have impacted plans on restarting activities by some state associations. In most cases, if schools have not returned to in-person learning and are continuing in a virtual format, sports and other activities are not permitted. It appears that some states may be reconsidering that stance; however, and given the right circumstances, this could open up activities for more students.

While some schools may be forced to start classes virtually, lower-risk sports such as golf, tennis and cross country (with modifications), which are conducted outdoors and have built-in physical distancing by the nature of the sport, may be acceptable.