AURORA | The Colorado High School Activities Association will have discussions with Gov. Jared Polis’ office about the potential to resume football and other fall prep sports.
Colorado’s current slate of fall prep sports approved for safe competition in the coronavirus pandemic stands at four with boys golf, boys tennis, softball and cross country all in the midst of their seasons, while momentum is building towards the addition of more.
A few states across the country have recently reversed previous decisions to postpone football and other outdoor fall sports and Colorado may be next. KOAA in Colorado Springs first reported a communication coming from CHSAA Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green Monday to membership indicating a meeting with Polis’ COVID-19 Response team with an expected update on the situation coming by Thursday.
“In recent weeks, we have seen reconsideration at the Association, school district and conference level regarding the resuming fall sports, especially football,” Blanford-Green said in a statement issued on CHSAANow.com. “We also hear those who are advocating for a reconsideration of the 2020-21 sport calendar.
“We continue to work collaboratively with our state, health and educational officials. We’re monitoring information from other states to see if it’s applicable to reconsiderations in Colorado. Over the course of the past week, this has prompted conversations at the state level to see if some outdoor fall sports could resume under the state safety guidelines, including variances that would be needed to make this happen. We appreciate their willingness to keep the dialogue open.”
According to a compilation from MaxPreps.com, 33 states currently have started or soon will start seasons. Louisiana was the most recent to approve a start to the season, targeting Oct. 8.
As of right now, Colorado is scheduled to begin practice on Feb. 22, 2021, a decision that has prompted several players to move out of state — including quite a few to Arizona, which is scheduled to begin Sept. 30 — and caused some seniors to plan to graduate early and head to college programs instead of playing in the spring.
A grassroots effort in Colorado has provided plenty of momentum towards the reconsidering of a fall football season. Volleyball, boys soccer, field hockey and gymnastics also have been shifted to the spring.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
