Mark Andrews still feels the sting from losing a full spring sports season.
The Portage Northern baseball coach had the Huskies in position to contend for a second straight state championship, but before the team could even take the field for a game, the 2020 season was lost.
In March, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Michigan High School Athletic Association to cancel the entire spring sports season, wiping out aspirations for Andrews’ team as well as many others across the state. Now,Andrews is concerned with how the MHSAA’s decision to postpone the football season until the spring will affect his team a year after they already had one season heavily impacted.
Though Andrews was a contributor in getting the MHSAA to approve 16 fall practices for spring sports, he still wasn’t too fond of spring sports having to potentially compromise after what took place last spring.
“We obviously are unhappy that football is being placed where it is and it’s going to take our sports season -- that we already lost last year -- and now make it way shorter,” Andrews said. “We thought, ‘Well, give us some time in the fall to work with our guys,’ and they did, which I’m happy they at least did that, but I’m not a big fan of the fact they’re just going to put football in the middle of winter and spring sports and really the issue is the overlap.”
That overlap could mean tough choices would need to be made by the athletes who play football and a spring sport. And while Andrews believes his program would be OK in that situation given its size, his concern also sits with smaller schools that might not be as fortunate.
“One of our main concerns is losing kids,” Andrews said. “The other thing is there are high schools where their whole baseball team are football players. So, if their football team makes a run, they could be weeks behind, so it just creates logistical problems. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve coached football for years and want to see these kids have a season, but I prefer to see them have it now.
“My personal thoughts were to give (football) a five-game season with no playoffs and that wouldn’t affect baseball hardly. But they’re going to want playoffs and they’re probably going to let them have it. Our football team’s pretty good. They could probably go a few weeks into the postseason, which could cause us to then not have some of our baseball players, which we’ll manage, but I don’t think some schools can.
“It’s just that this whole thing is a mess and (the MHSAA) is in a no-win situation and I get that too. Half the people are going to be unhappy. It’s a bad situation.”
MHSAA says it will work to avoid overlap with football and traditional spring sports
Andrews isn’t the only spring sports coach who has questions on what a football season in the spring will mean.
Ann Arbor Huron baseball coach David Brooks said his biggest concern is how his players could be forced to choose between playing for the school or playing travel baseball if a football season pushes baseball back to the summer.
“Now, the kids are going to have to make a decision and if you’d ask me the amount of money some of these kids pay to play travel ball, it’s going to be hard,” he said. “My main concern is will I be competing against travel ball. That’s something I certainly hope I won’t have to do.”
The MHSAA still is working on a schedule for football and how the traditional spring sports will be affected.
For Muskegon Mona Shores baseball coach Brandon Bard, there are more questions than answers.
“There are countless things running through your mind. I’ve had so many conversations with the local coaches that I’m friends with, and I think we all share the same concerns,” Bard said. “If something drastic happens and we were to lose another season of baseball, it’s going to be tough. But there are so many unknowns right now and nobody really knows what’s going on.”
Spring sports normally begin with tryouts in mid-March, with some competitions scheduled for before spring break. Michigan’s unpredictable spring weather can cause its own scheduling challenges.
Oak Park girls track coach Brandon Jiles said for that reason, having football during that time of the year could end up being a positive for his program.
“It could be a gift and a curse depending on how we look at it,” Jiles said. “Usually with track starting March 12, we usually lose about 4-5 weeks of quality training because the weather is so bad in March and early April. So, I was thinking that maybe because they’re moving track possibly back to mid-May, June and possibly going into early July, it may give us a chance to compete in better weather, so that was one of the pros that I thought about.
“I just hope we have a season and if we have a season, no matter when it is, I’ll be fine with it because for us to run in May and June is not a bad thing because we’ll get a lot better weather. I’m just hoping we have a season and I want the football kids to have a season because they deserve the opportunity to play.”
While questions remain, being allowed 16 fall practices has given coaches some uplifting news for their programs.
“I’m excited for all the coaches and the players,” said Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett baseball coach Dan Cimini. “They’re able to spend some time with their coaches that they missed out on in the spring. I know that was hard on a lot of people, but this is an opportunity to build that back up and get these kids mentally prepared to play spring sports and be with their coaches and teammates.
“I’m appreciative of the MHSAA. It’s not been easy, and they’ve done a really good job to try and do whatever they can to get all the sports on the field because it’s hard on everybody. People sometimes forget that it doesn’t matter who it is, even the people making the decisions, it’s super hard and it’s tough times. If we all come together and be positive and roll with the punches, we’ll get through this and be back to normal before we know it.”
There’s still a great deal of time before the spring rolls around. Questions will continue to arise even when some are answered. But for Cimini, regardless of what happens, his goal is to be prepared when his team returns to the field.
“Once the schedule comes out for football, whether it’s five or six games, whether it’s a full season or whether it’s playoffs, or whatever they come up with, I’ll adjust accordingly and I’ll be behind all those kids who want to play football,” he said. “It’s one year. It’s not like we have to do it all the time, and if we all work together and do what we’re supposed to do, it’s all about the kids anyway.
“Regardless, I’m all for the decision and I’m excited just to plug forward and see everybody on the playing fields hopefully and to be safe.”
MORE:
MHSAA approves fall sports in Regions 6 and 8; rest of Michigan on hold
For 3 fall sports, the ball clearly is in Gov. Whitmer’s hands
MHSAA executive director talks possibility of fall sports in March, April, May
MHSAA executive director: 9-game spring football season ‘will not be the case’
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