State urges further delay to high school sports fall season; football and volleyball indoors also in jeopardy - Press Herald

Erskine Academy field hockey players go through a conditioning drill Aug. 4 at the South China school. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal Buy this Photo

AUGUSTA — State officials issued a rebuke of the Maine Principals’ Association’s plans for fall sports on Tuesday in a strongly worded letter that also urged the high school season to be delayed.

The letter — signed by Commissioner of Education Pender Makin and Commissioner of Department of Health and Human Services Jeanne Lambrew — cited several instances in which the MPA failed to follow the state’s COVID-19 safety guidelines while developing its plan for the return of sports. It also criticized the MPA for hastily voting to advance all fall sports on Aug. 27 before the state could review the guidelines.

“On Thursday, August 27, 2020, MPA shared its guidance in its entirety only hours before its Interscholastic Management Committee was scheduled to vote on the guidance, leaving us inadequate time to review and provide appropriate feedback in advance of the vote. You acknowledged at the time your interest in feedback nonetheless and your intent to align this guidance with State guidance,” the letter stated.

The state also addressed community sports guidelines issues with the MPA, stating the following in the letter: “The MPA Guidance does not include any modifications to the types of play for sports based on risk. Under the MPA Guidance, student athletes in even the highest risk sports can compete as they did preCOVID, including within-team competition, between local teams, between teams statewide regardless of the color classification of counties in the School Health Advisory System, and between teams from out of state including states that are not exempt from Maine’s requirement for quarantine or testing. The Community Sports Guidance document does not permit competitions outside of scrimmages within the team for high-risk sports. The combination of travel and close contact in certain sports increases the risk of accelerating coronavirus spread. This is why colleges and universities in New England have largely cancelled intercollegiate athletic competition this fall.”

MPA Executive director Mike Burnham did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

The state urged the MPA to delay the start of the fall season. Furthermore, concerns were also raised with football and volleyball played indoors, leaving those sports in jeopardy this fall.

“We would like to know, at your earliest convenience, if the MPA plans on modifying its guidance and, if so, how? Additionally, given that it is September 1, we urge you to consider extending your delayed start date for fall sports as many other interscholastic sports bodies in other states have done to allow for sufficient time to resolve the concerns expressed in this letter and to allow for appropriate time for implementation,” the letter stated.

The MPA’s 12-member Interscholastic Management Committee unanimously voted Aug. 27 to allow all sports – including contact sports such as soccer and football – to be played this fall. The vote followed the recommendation of the group’s Sports Medicine Committee.

However, a state spokesperson said it reviewed the MPA’s fall sports guidelines upon request to ensure they met COVID-19 safety guidelines. That unexpected decision came less than two weeks after a Department of Education spokesperson said “As we have throughout this pandemic, we will strive to work in a collaborative manner with MPA. Any decision about interscholastic sports will be made by the MPA.”

The MPA previously announced official team practices can start Sept. 8, with games beginning no sooner than Sept. 18. The first football games were slated to kick off Sept. 25.

However, football and volleyball played indoors are in jeopardy of playing this fall under the revised community sports guidelines.

The concerns the state addressed to the MPA include the following: face coverings, keeping spectators at sporting events three to six feet apart, and protocol if a student-athlete comes in contact with a person who is a confirmed positive for COVID-19. The MPA’s fall sports guidelines called for parents to notify the school in that instance, while the DOE guidelines call for not only such notification, but isolation for anyone testing positive and quarantine for individuals with close contact.

“The MPA face covering guidance is largely but not fully consistent with State guidance,” the letter stated “According to Executive Order 49 FY 19/20, “individuals must wear cloth face coverings in public settings where other physical distancing measures are difficult to maintain.” Beyond exceptions for young children and certain people with medical conditions, face coverings are not required during vigorous activity. However, at all other times including during low to moderate intensity exercises, in bench areas, during coaching strategy sessions, and other circumstances where physical distancing measures are difficult to maintain, sports participants must wear a face covering – along with coaches, officials, and others involved in school sports.”

A few districts — including Orono and Gardiner — had already decided to play fall sports, while most waited to see the state’s review of the MPA guidelines. Camden Hills, meanwhile, had already opted out.

This story will be updated.

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