UIL announced plans for high school fall sports. Jamey Harrison explains why
After months of uncertainty because of the coronavirus, the University Interscholastic League came to a decision on fall sports on July 21, which includes football, volleyball, cross country and team tennis.
Class 4A-below are allowed to start on time on Aug. 3 while 5A-6A are delayed until Sept. 7.
Tournaments in volleyball and basketball, including the regional tournaments, were canceled.
The Star-Telegram spoke with UIL Deputy Director Jamey Harrison about the UIL’s decision on upcoming fall topics, including why they split up conferences onto two different tracks, capacity of fans at games and the fate of the football state championships in the winter.
What factors went into the UIL’s decision for fall sports?
There wasn’t one answer that was going to work for all schools. Given the variety of challenges schools are facing depending on where they’re located and how large of a school they are, how much population density is around them as it relates to COVID-19, we recognized there wasn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. We took into account the county orders, all of the county orders that we were aware of at the time and applied those with the alignments that we have and each of those schools in those alignments. What we found was that in conferences 5A and 6A, half or more of the schools were impacted by local county orders. When we got to 4A and below, while there were no conferences that weren’t impacted by county orders, the vast majority of the schools in each of those conferences were able to start and participate. There is simply not a date that we at least can foresee where all schools in the state are going to ready to start on time, play the same number of games and finish at the same time. We believe not all schools will be able to complete an entire schedule. We know not all schools will start on time. But it at least gives an opportunity to participate if they find an opportunity to do so. We will continue to work with those schools that are facing those particular challenges who have questions and are finding themselves in a difficult situation. We understand that some schools are able to conduct summer activities and work out and some are not There just is not a perfect day where we think all of them will be able to start at the same time.
Was spring football or flip flopping seasons ever a discussion?
It was discussed, but not terribly seriously. I know recently California made that decision and I’m in no way intending to judge the quality of that decision for the state of California. They had their reasons for doing it that fit their state the best. For Texas, we don’t want to give up on the fall yet. So if conditions cause us to adjust, we still have the spring as a possibility. But giving up on the fall too early eliminates a lot of our flexibility. We do know that all those spring activities that got canceled this past school year, we want to preserve as much as possible. We would hate to see those students lose seasons twice in a row. Our spring is already crowded and in particular for our smaller schools where they share athletes so putting all of that into the spring would make it impossible. We’re starting with this plan and we have a lot of backup plans we can go to if we need to. We feel like the plan we have out right now gives the best opportunity for schools to have some district competition if not full seasons.
Games are allowing 50% capacity. Is that something that could change one way or the other depending on conditions?
Quite frankly, all our components of our plan fall into the same category. We will continue to watch and adjust this way or that as necessary and the capacity limitation is a great example. We’re starting off with a statewide 50% maximum, and recognizing and allowing local schools to take action. We’re working with their county and local leaders to take action to reduce it even further, but we are starting with a 50% maximum statewide. As conditions change, that could change as well.
What would happen if a team is unable to play and has to forfeit?
So we don’t have exact guidance issues on that because it’s going to be difficult to anticipate every possible scenario where that might come into play. Largely that’s going to be a district executive committee decision. If possible, we need to avoid schools having to forfeit games because they weren’t able to play for some reasons related to COVID-19. Now all of the facts of each of those cases will have to be taken into account so those closest to the decision at the local district committee level will be making those decisions with us.
Dallas and Houston may not be able to host football state titles games in December/January. Could the UIL look at the Alamodome?
We have not solidified a venue for those championships. We would certainly hope to hold those [5A-6A] games at one site because it creates such an atmosphere for the students who have the opportunity to play in those games. But right now we don’t know if that’s possible. We do have more flexibility where our typical state championships cover a four-day period, now with only four games, we have more flexibility on what days of the week we can land on. We are working with venues right now and as soon as we have a final resolution to that, we will make an announcement.
Is San Antonio an option?
Honestly, anywhere in Texas is in the mix at this point. All options are on the table for us.
With 5A-6A football state championships scheduled in January, will the players that graduate early in December be able to play in those games?
If we have schools that get into that situation, we will certainly try to work with them. We have that already. We have baseball players that already graduated and the baseball season doesn’t end until after their graduation. Those players who have the opportunity to go play Division I football and enroll early, we’re really proud of, but they’re also a really small number of football players when you look at how many we have across the state. If we get down to that point of the playoffs, we have much fewer schools participating and we can work with them very closely one-on-one and find solutions to any particular challenges that they might be facing.
Why was a decision made to take away tournaments in basketball and volleyball?
Tournaments involve travel, often times overnight. It involves a lot of schools in one location in most cases so we don’t have regional tournaments, don’t have invitational tournaments on our schedule. The only tournament we have is that last one of the year in March, the state tournament which only involves four teams per conference where UIL has control in working with the facility there at the Alamodome to address capacity and social distancing. Given that it’s in March, we have a great deal of time to plan for that and make adjustments if we need to, but we did go ahead for volleyball and basketball, and eliminate all the invitational tournaments and regional tournaments because of COVID-19 concerns. Now you can trade two games for a tournament in basketball, three games for a tournament in volleyball so they do get those additional games in losing those tournaments, but we did cut down a lot of travel and social interaction. These adjustments reflect the public health situation at this time. UIL will continue to work with state officials and monitor CDC and other federal guidance to determine any potential modifications that may become necessary.
How much does the UIL look at club sports? Parents would like to know why summer ball is being played, but high schools are delayed.
The modifications to the UIL schedule are based on the public health situation at the time and with guidance from state authorities. The UIL has no jurisdiction over outside organizations. In many cases, school activities are prohibited by county orders while non-school sports have been allowed to continue.
If seasons aren’t played, has there been any discussions about seniors coming back for a fifth year such as college spring sports?
This is not a topic of discussion.
Will the UIL have any control over wealthier programs who have the opportunity to practice off site or attend club practice vs. other programs that won’t have that opportunity?
The UIL has no jurisdiction over outside organizations. This would be a local district matter.
