BOISE — As we get closer to fall, the big question for high school athletes across the state is will there be fall sports?
If so, what will it look like?
The Idaho High School Activities Association is leaving the decision and guidelines up to the individual school districts to come up with a game plan for their fall season.
“We’re very cautiously optimistic that we are going to be able to start on time," said IHSSA Executive Director, Ty Jones. "But we are also realists and know that there are certain areas of the state that are honestly going to need a little bit of help to be able to have a normal looking season.”
The IHSSA is planning on all activities and sports returning Aug.10, so the districts will need to finalize their plans by then.
"There are some states that are kind of moving towards no sports at all, we're not at all. We are definitely planning on playing," he said.
He encourages everyone to continue to follow safety protocols because it can only help sports return.
"We're working on things in the summer so that we can guarantee ourselves a fall season," said Jones. "If we do the things people are telling us to do, extra sanitizing, safety protocols, then we will be good to go, if not it could possibly delay fall sports and nobody wants that."
They also are coming up with a plan to have all high school sports streamed online in case of limited or no fans allowed inside sporting events.
"We have 40 to 50 schools that already have those in place, and we're hoping to get the rest of them set up," said Jones. "There aren't a lot of positives from this pandemic, but the federation giving schools the opportunity to live stream games is going to help out a lot of schools, fans and their families that want to watch."
The IHSSA is meeting again on Thursday, where they will have a full updated schedule and guidelines for high school sports in Idaho to follow.
We will keep you updated with any new information as we get it.
