KHSAA Board of Control decides to delay the start of games to Monday, January 4. To continue to practice at this point becomes a local decision. Board puts lots of focus on trying to ensure that spring sports has a full season this year since their season in 2020 was completely canceled.
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KHSAA Board of Control met via Zoom to discuss the start of Winter Sports
Through the first part of the KHSAA Board of Control meeting, Commissioner Jullian Tackett spoke about plans for the remainder of the football playoffs including the championship games to be held at the University of Kentucky's Kroger Field.
The mindset concerning high school athletics provided a positive outlook to those hoping for winter sports and football playoffs to continue.
That included the Wildcat Football team scheduled to play a playoff game on Friday, November 29 and basketball scheduled to start on Monday, November 23.
While the football playoffs would continue and Pendleton is scheduled to play on Friday, November 29, winter sports would be pushed back to Monday, January 4.
Tackett reminded the Board of Control members and close to 2,000 viewers on KHSAAtv via YouTube of three things. 1. The Value of Sports as studies are showing the mental challenges of those who lost sports in spring. 2. Preserve a full spring sports season as they were the ones who lost it their entire season in 2020. 3. A culminating event at the end of the season to reward the hard work of the season.
The proposal would allow a full spring sports season to be completed in 2021 and was the focus of most of the board.
A lengthy discussion entailed about how long the winter sports season should be to allow the spring sports athletes to have a chance to have a full season this year with issues arising on the financial importance to the KHSAA budget to hold the Sweet 16, starting on December 14 instead of January 4, practice being allowed to continue, and the availability of Rupp Arena.
While the move is a result of red zone county designation throughout Kentucky, sports does not seem to be an area that the virus is being transmitted.
According to Doug Samuels of Football Scoop, the state of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Association compiled data from 30,000 athletes participating in over 16,000 practices and 4,000 games in the month of September. Sport contact made up just 0.5 percent of transmissions which lines up with what medical experts have also found at the NCAA level.
The data pointed to household contacts (55 percent) and community contact (40.7 percent) as responsible for 96 percent of the transmissions.
The final decision in the afternoon full board meeting was to allow competitive athletic contests for basketball to start on Monday, January 4. KHSAA insurance will begin to cover practices three weeks before but the ACTUAL decision on whether basketball can continue to practice or not at this time is left up to the local level.
It was approved without any dissent.
The playoffs including Sweet 16 will be held in the traditional month of March with post season play on March 1. It will provide a seven-week season for basketball teams with a maximum of three games per week.
This matches NKMSAA pushing the start of middle school basketball back to the week of January 2, 2021. Postseason for Sharp Middle School will be mid- to late-February with Pendleton County Schools canceling practices and planning to restart them on December 1.
Esports is not effected and continue their season. Bowling is still to be determined and Archery is considered a spring sport.
Wildcat basketball will lose 15 games that were on the schedule before January 4 while the Ladycats will lose 13 games.
Read the Tuesday, November 24 edition of Falmouth Outlook to see what Pendleton County High School's reaction to the KHSAA Board of Control decision.