By Bruce Karnick

The MSHSL held a set of special meetings between Friday, September 18th and Monday, September 21st to discuss changes for the fall sports season. Friday, the discussion was around Sectional meets for the fall sports that are currently being played. During the meeting, they opted to have modified section tournaments for each fall sport.

To avoid duplication of information, all sports have some shared rules. The biggest question is “Will there be a state tournament for any sport?” The short answer as of today is, “any advancement beyond sections is still to be determined.” The biggest limitation for any kind of State Tournament will be the COVID restrictions.

All Events Online Video Streaming may take place Media access is still TBD Many of the details, such as location dates, times and team assignments, will be worked out by Section and Region Management.

NON School facilities must follow MDH guidelines for spectators. 25% building capacity, Max 250 spectators. Essential personnel DO NOT count toward the 250 Maximum.

Indoor Events at School Facilities Spectators will NOT be allowed if the meet is held at a school facility per MDE guidelines Outdoor Events at School Facilities Spectators will be allowed at OUTDOOR school facilities. 25% facility capacity with a Maximum of 250 spectators. Spectators may require pre-registration for contact tracing.

Sport Specifics for Section events Cross Country Cross-Country sections will be similar to how meets are being run currently with some improved modifications.

Meets will be held the week of October 12th.

Four teams can now be on the course at one time. Up from three.

Limited to six runners per team Varsity races only.

Girls and Boys must not be on the course at the same time.

If needed, the course can be used for multiple sessions over multiple days if all four teams have vacated the property before the new four teams arrive.

Girls Swim and Dive Girls Swim and Dive will change dramatically versus the 2020 regular season. The limit for the number of participants seems to drop the 25-athlete limit for the regular season included divers. The section limit does not include divers because they will have their portion of the section meet on a different day at a different location.

Meets will be held the week of October 19th.

Multiple sites can be used over two days for swimming events.

Teams are allowed up to 22 swimmers and three coaches per team. No Student Managers Timed Finals Format with a maximum of four teams at any one site, up from 2.

Teams can have a maximum of four entries per event.

Boys and Girls Soccer When asked for his thoughts on sections, Girls Head Coach Scott Meier replied, “[We are] getting ready for practices currently. The extension of the season with Sections is nice but predicated on everyone doing their part to minimize/ mitigate COVID-19. The ability to control logistics and minimize travel is a big lift in the MSHSL considering moving forward with this.” Other than the schedule, soccer is probably the least affected by any change in rules. As Scott pointed out, teams have already been mitigating the spread of COVID by following the established rules.

Sections can start October 12th and must be completed by October 24th Teams are limited to two games per week.

The first half of the first week (Oct 12th/13th) will be a pre-quarterfinals for large Class A sections. Those with more than eight teams.

The later half of the first week (Oct 13th-17th) will be used for quarterfinals with eight teams The second week (Oct 19th) will be semi-finals and finals.

Girls Tennis Tennis is in the middle of their Conference Championships and their season was about to be over. With the added sections, the girls get some bonus matches!

Sections can start October 5th and must be concluded by October 17th.

High Seed hosted competition to be played at High School Courts.

Outdoor Courts only Championship and Consolation tournament 2 matches per week Football, Volleyball and Adaptive Soccer The meeting started at 9:00 a.m. Monday Morning where they began by discussing a document sent to the board prior to the meeting. Dr. Bill Roberts, chair of the MSHSL Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, Past president of American College of Sports Medicine, and Professor in the Department of Family medicine and Community Health at the University of Minnesota, penned the document. The document discussed the challenge to find an acceptable risk strategy somewhere between complete self-isolation and an unsafe health environment for players and staff and the tipping point for safe activity. This is difficult to determine which side football and volleyball will fall on without data. “The team sports and physical activity experience continues to evolve and there is potential for negative outcomes if we are not careful with our decision making around sports with high physical contact and in poorly ventilated areas.” Dr. Roberts wrote.

During the opening discussion, the board went over the results of a survey the conducted. Of the 394 schools responding, 76% stated they want to play volleyball this fall instead of in the spring. 80% of those same schools want to play football this fall.

After the opening discussion, the board moved to adaptive soccer. There are two different divisions of the adaptive soccer, CI (cognitively impaired) and PI (physically impaired). The board approved fall training for both divisions of adapted soccer. Teams can conduct 8 practice sessions from September 21st to October 23rd. No competitions are allowed. This will replace the interscholastic competitive 2020 adapted soccer season.

Volleyball The board kept up with their agenda, next discussing volleyball. Of all the fall sports, there are only 2 played indoors, Girls Volleyball and Girls Swim and Dive. Currently with Swimming or any indoor event on school grounds, COVID guidelines do not allow non-essential personnel. That means, under the current guidelines, fans are not allowed for any sporting event indoors. It is even difficult for the media gain access to indoor sports, so much so that Hastings Athletics Director Trent Hanson recently sent an email out to photographers needing access to sports events. In his email, he heavily suggested the need to share photos this year to limit any potential issues with the MSHSL. As the MSHSL board approached the end of the Volleyball discussion, there were two options presented for Volleyball.

Fall: Start September 28th with 10 days of preseason practice. First competition on October 8th with an 11-week season, 14 dual competitions.

Spring: Start one week of practice February 15th with an 11-week season starting February 22nd, 14 dual competitions, concluding April 19.

The board motioned and approved the fall option for Volleyball. Practice can start September 28th with the first competition being able to be held October 8th. There will be 14 head to head competitions over 11 weeks.

Football A meeting that started at 9:00 had already made it to 11:10 a.m. without discussing the most popular sport in the state. Football. The board spent over 30 minutes discussing volleyball, how long would the wait be discussing football. According to John Millea’s live tweets (@MSHSLJohn) on the meeting, 18 minutes into the football conversation, a recommendation was made to start practice on September 28th with a 10-week season. A number of days, weeks, games, etcetera were discussed, and amendments made to the motion, which were discussed for over 45 minutes. The final motion for fall football was: Practice to start September 28th, First Games October 9th or 10th with a six-game regular season and a two-week post season. The format yet to be determined. The motion passed and football WILL return this fall.

Winter Sports Winter sports will be discussed at the October 1st meeting of the MSHSL. No information was given beyond that at this time.

Spring Sports As of right now, spring sports will move back to the normal start time. Of course, this may change as we get closer.

Little Raiders Program With the MSHSL approving the playing of Football for fall, what does that mean for Little Raiders here in Hastings? Jason Stoffel, Referee Coordinator for Little Raiders confirmed that Little Raiders will also play this fall. “We were in a training mode where we held skills practices and workouts, limiting contact as much as possible. With the MSHSL opening things up for the High School, we have decided to go with a shortened tackle season this fall for our Little Raiders athletes.” The details of the season were not available as of press time. Parents of Little Raiders players have already been receiving communications from prior to the normal season start time, expect that to continue.

The Little Raiders Program is always looking for Officials for the games. If you are interested in officiating, please reach out to Jason Stoffel at [email protected]