AURORA | Two more fall prep sports were given approval to begin practice by the Colorado High School Activities Association, as softball and boys tennis got the green light Wednesday.
Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green made the announcement during CHSAA’s annual All-School Summit, saying that the COVID-19 Response team in Gov. Jared Polis’ office had approved the plan submitted for the two sports, which join boys golf with approval.
Boys golf begins practice Aug. 3 and start to compete shortly thereafter, while softball and boys tennis can start practice Aug. 10 and begin play Aug. 13.
According to a press release from CHSAA, the organization “is anticipating a decision from the COVID-19 Response team on the remaining sports by the end of the week.”
Though the sports got the approval to begin, they will have some modifications.
Softball will play a 16-game schedule beginning Aug. 13 and ending Oct. 3. Regional tournaments have been eliminated and 16 teams will make the Oct. 10 state tournaments at the Aurora Sports Park, with league champions getting in automatically and the field filled out by teams based on CHSAA’s Seeding Index.
Boys tennis will have fewer regular season matches and single-elimination regionals. State tournaments will run Sept. 25-26 and only state champions will be crowned.
Local schools, however, will be able to compete based on the discretion of their respective schools districts. Aurora Public Schools is currently scheduled to begin classes remotely until Oct. 7, while the Cherry Creek School District has yet to make a definitive announcement. CCSD has stated that it will not have fall sports if the school year starts with remote learning.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports