The OSAA executive board decided not to take any further action regarding the spring sports season after meeting by online conference call Wednesday morning.
The season is suspended through April 28, in line with the governor's orders to close schools through that date. The executive board will meet by conference call again April 15.
“They are in favor of continuing to align with the governor's orders,” OSAA executive director Peter Weber said. “If the governor ends up shutting down schools for the rest of the year, with no in-person learning, then we're going to shut down.”
Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Virginia already have canceled their spring sports seasons.
The executive board discussed parameters for a possible truncated season, such as limiting the number of contests in a week by activity.
“We're all still working through what the specifics and details would be on that, so you don't have a baseball team trying to play eight games in a week, or something like that,” Weber said.
The board also approved guidelines proposed by Dr. Michael Koester, chair of the OSAA sports medicine advisory committee. A seven-day, practice-only acclimatization period would be instated before contests could begin. During that period, practices would be limited to one per day, no more than three hours in length.
To limit loss of class time, schools would emphasize weekend contests or late-afternoon starts.
The possibility of extending the school year into late June, which would allow for more time to complete the spring season, has financial implications. Districts have been paying teachers during the shutdown and would have to compensate them for work beyond their contracts.
“If they extend the school year, then it's going to come at a cost,” Weber said.
Should the season begin, the OSAA would need a new venue for the 3A, 2A and 1A track championships. Western Oregon University, scheduled to play host to the meets May 28-29, has closed its facility through the end of June.
jerryu@osaa.org
Subscribe
