Mississippi High School Activities Association executive director Don Hinton is still holding out hope for a springs sports season.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves ordered all schools to be closed until April 17 and the state is under a shelter-in-place order until April 20 at 8 a.m.
Hinton said plans are being made to resume spring sports if schools do return on April 20.
“We just keep looking at it like everybody else,” Hinton told The Vicksurg Post. “It’s more on a day-to-day basis as much as it is week to week. There’s no harm done in us having hope that we can continue and if we get to a point where that’s no longer possible based on time factors, based on health factors, the social distancing, all of those things, then we’ll let our health advisors end up making that decision for us more than likely.”
Hinton said there will come a point of no return for the MHSAA.
“We’ll have a drop dead date before long where it’s just not feasible, and it’s not what’s best for our schools and our kids. But right now we just continue to look ahead and be very hopeful. If it could happen, we want to make it happen. But we’ll have to see what the future holds. We will continue to suspend activities as long as our schools are closed. And if our schools are able to open, then we will have some time to determine what to do with sports and activities.”
Hinton said if the spring season resume on April 20, it’s unclear what sports would be able to resume immediately and when or how long the season would last.
Hinton said there would be a seven to 10-day preseason period to allow athletes to get back in shape after nearly six weeks off. Baseball and softball playoffs were originally scheduled to begin the week of April 27. Golf, tennis and track and field season normally conclude in the first or second week of May.
Hinton said a possible solution would be to extend the season beyond graduation and into June, which could present a new set of problems.
“There are all kinds of issues when you get into the month of June,” Hinton said. “If you had a week or two, it could be that you allow three games per week. That’s six games in the regular season and then you could possibly have something. If it’s May, then you could have some semblance of a playoff in June. There’s a lo of stuff to look about in June, though. You’ve got coaches changing positions in the summer, all of your travel ball and those different things.”
