By Dave Maxwell
Battle Born Media
The sights and sounds and smells of high school football haven’t been spared by COVID-19, or any other sports in Nevada for that matter. Like all sports in regards to the coronavirus and straddled by a line between health and safety and an insatiable desire to play, as reported July 23 in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Bart Thompson, executive director of the NIAA issued a statement saying that, “Actions by school districts and governing boards of NIAA member schools made it necessary to make adjustments to NIAA sports seasons for the 2020-21 academic year.”
A subsequent press release from the NIAA office in Reno said current COVID-19 circumstances were the major factors in the decision.
This means the NIAA will move all high school sports to 2021, beginning in January and through the remainder of the school year.
Nevada becomes the fifth state to move all or some of its sports to the winter and spring of 2021, joining California, New Mexico, Virginia and Washington, along with the District of Columbia.
As noted in the RJ article, “Each sport will have a six-week window for completion. It’s not expected that any state championships will be awarded this year, but the NIAA is allowing for playoffs at the discretion of individual classifications, regions and leagues, but the six-week window would include any playoffs.”
Larger schools, with enough enrollment to participate in other sports besides the major ones, will be included in this same plan. The winter sports, basketball and wrestling, are to begin practicing Jan. 1 with games and matches to begin Jan. 15 and conclude Feb. 20. That will be followed by the fall sports, football, and volleyball and cross country to run March 5 to April 10. Track, baseball and softball will run from April 16 to May 22.
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