High School Sports - Football and Volleyball Postponed, the Rest It's Game On

[Livingat45north]

Not sure which page this thread really belongs on. Mods of course feel free to move it wherever you think it belongs. Curious as to why COVID is causing football and volleyball to be moved to the spring, but soccer, cross country and swimming are still happening? Why is COVID not an issue for these other sports?

"The Minnesota State High School League met virtually on Tuesday, Aug. 4, and voted to move football and volleyball which normally begin in the fall to the spring, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The board approved moving forward with the remaining fall sports; soccer, girls tennis, cross-country, and girls swimming and diving will begin practice on Monday, Aug. 17, with a shorter season, fewer contests, no scrimmages, and limits on how many teams can gather for competitions."

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Sports are in different risk categories according to the State Dept of Health. Cross-Country, tennis and swimming are considered 'individual' sports as opposed to team sports, so they are considered lower risk. Soccer is a team sport, but takes place outdoors, and there is less direct physical contact (as opposed to football).

I'm not claiming it makes perfect sense, but that was the rationale according to the MSHSL executive board. The meeting was pretty contentious. there were 18 members voting, and several early votes ended in 9-9 ties. Finally, one person switched their vote and it was 10-8 to move VB to the early Spring season. Football was not as close - I think it went 13-5 in favor of moving football. So more consensus that it was not considered safe to play football at this time.