NCHSAA moves football to February, pushes back the start of all sports

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association will push back the start of its football season to Feb. 26, NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker announced during a Zoom conference on Wednesday. 

Here's how the season is changing for different sports:

• Cross country and volleyball will be the first sports to begin competition in North Carolina, with the first competition date for those sports scheduled for Nov. 16.
• Other traditional fall sports such as men’s soccer, men’s and women’s lacrosse and women’s tennis, will have starting dates ranging from January to April.
• Indoor track was the only sport to have its season canceled. 
• Men’s and women’s basketball — which generally begin competition in November — won’t play until Jan. 4. 

“Equity among sports is very important,” Tucker said. “We want to give them the opportunity to play an equal number of games, or at least know that each sport is being played equitably.”

Another notable aspect of the NCHSAA’s new calendar is lowered limits on the amount of contests teams can schedule. High school football teams in North Carolina — which generally play around 11 regular season games — will be limited to just seven games in a schedule running from Feb. 26 to April 9. 

Dr. Josh Bloom, a 15-year member of the NCHSAA’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, said he and his colleagues felt it was important for North Carolina high school athletes to have the opportunity to compete during the 2020-21 school year. 

“While there are risks with resuming NCHSAA-sanctioned athletics, it has also become very clear that there are significant negative consequences with not providing this option,” Bloom said. “For many young people, the void left without sports is filled with anxiety, depression and despair.”

Tucker said the NCHSAA sent a survey out to each member school and superintendents across the state and used that, along with medical guidelines from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, in creating the plan for a return to competition. 

“We want our young people to be able to play, but for sure we want them to play in a manner that is safe and healthy,” Tucker said. 

Playoff dates were not included within the schedule, but Tucker said there are plans in place to hold a postseason competition for each sport. 

With the majority of the schedule slated to take place in the spring, it could be difficult for some multi-sport athletes to compete in their respective seasons, especially with the possibility of extended playoff runs. 

Some states across the country, including Virginia, California and Colorado, have also pushed back the start of the competition season. Despite this, Tucker said she is prepared to face challenges in order to resume competition. 

“We cannot change the realities of COVID-19 and the threat that it poses,” Tucker said. “But we can change the way we think about everything we are experiencing.”

@zachycrain

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com