SPOKANE, Wash. — The high school sports season has seen plenty of changes over the last ten months, and Wednesday brought another change.
Fall sports (cross country, football, golf (alternate), slowpitch softball, girls and 1B/2B boys soccer, tennis (alternate) and volleyball) will now be played in "season one" beginning Feb. 1. Previously, winter sports were slated to begin in "season one."
The WIAA announced that they will review sports in season two and season three in a meeting scheduled for Jan. 19.
“The change in guidelines allow all traditional fall sports to be played in Phase 2 while we still do not have a clear pathway to the high risk indoor activities of basketball, competitive cheer and dance, and wrestling” said WIAA Executive Director Mick Hoffman. “With that in mind, moving fall sports to Season 1 will hopefully provide the most opportunities to participate.”
On Tuesday, Washington governor Jay Inslee announced that high school sports could be played in a region if they were elevated to phase 2. All counties will start in phase 1. In order to move to phase two, counties must have a test positivity rate less than 10%, a 10% decrease in case rates, a 10% decrease in COVID hospital admissions, and an ICU occupancy less than 90%.
“We are hoping to receive more details that were not included in the Governor’s announcement on Tuesday, particularly surrounding indoor sports and activities,” Hoffman said. “As we continue to gather more information and evaluate the new metrics, the Board will be able to make better decisions about the remainder of the year.”
The WIAA says they will provide a uniform season schedule concluding with regional culminating events. However, each WIAA league or district has the ability to reschedule season to best fit their local communities.
