Thomas Jefferson High School Cheer Team. photo Courtesy of yearbook staff
With today’s current pandemic, CHSAA has altered high school sports in order to allow students to play.
Due to COVID-19, the board of directors for the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) had to change the entirety of high school sports. CHSAA changed the usual fall, spring, and winter seasons to four different seasons: A, B, C, and D. Season A consists of cross country, softball, boys’ golf, boys’ tennis, and football. Season B included mainly the winter sports such as basketball, girls’ swimming, and wrestling. In season C, gymnastics, boys’ soccer, and girls’ volleyball will finally have their time to play. Finally, season D, which has the most sports leading into the summer, consists of baseball, girls’ golf, lacrosse, girls’ soccer, boys’ swimming, girls’ tennis, and track and field. Several of these sports were switched to an entirely different time of year than when they are usually played in order to prevent close-contact sports from being played during peak coronavirus season.
Just like any rules set on the field, all athletes must adhere to the requirements made by CHSAA in order to keep the participants of all sports safe and healthy. That is why mandatory changes have been made following COVID-19 to safely continue with the playing throughout the year. As always, in any public space or event, masks are a must. When players come and go from practices or games, they must be wearing a mask but may take it off when participating in drills and activities. For all non-active participants, such as coaches, managers, or volunteers, they must be wearing a face mask at all times for the duration of the practice, game, or event. Social distancing and disinfecting of all equipment is also in effect.
Although it seemed very unlikely that certain fall sports would be played during the usual fall season, on September 16th, the CHSAA board of directors approved the option for schools to choose to play field hockey, football, and sideline spirit (cheerleading). Schools had the option to play these sports in the remainder of the first semester rather than Season C in March. Troy Baker, the president of the Board of Directors and the athletic director at Buena Vista High School, imparted his opinion on the change in options for fall sports: “The CHSAA Board is charged to make the best decision for all kids in our state. We are a diverse state and many of our schools are faced with unique challenges that can elevate the complexity in making a decision that supports all schools and students.” Of course, if a school chose not to play this upcoming season then they could still play in the later season. This was a huge excitement for Thomas Jefferson students, as even though TJ does not have field hockey, football is a huge part of the school’s fall season. Football will move forward into the season with the specific guidelines to keep the community as safe as possible in these times. CHSAA was able to find the safest and best solutions to continue playing sports while maintaining a safe environment for all players and staff.
