The Missouri State High School Activities Association made the right call on Aug. 7 when they granted several significant changes to the MSHSAA Constitution for the 2020-21 season.
The biggest change was allowing schools to govern themselves on whether or not it is OK for its student-athletes to participate in activities even if the school chooses to forgo in-school instruction in favor of virtual learning. Under normal circumstances, for a MSHSAA Member School to participate in activities, it would have to have in-building instruction.
“After a long discussion, the Board determined this should be a local school decision,” the MSHSAA release stated. “Upon the approval of the Board, a member school may now determine if its teams will participate in MSHSAA activities while its students are receiving virtual instruction only, while following all requirements and guidelines set forth by their health department officials.”
This change significantly increases the likelihood that some if not most of the schools in the major metropolis schools in the Kansas City and St. Louis area would be able to participate in activities for the upcoming school year. This also allows other areas of the state who might be on the fence about virtual learning to move forward with it since it will no longer sacrifice extracurricular activities. To me, this was a no-brainer in order for there to be sports this year with so much uncertainty still remaining about COVID-19.
Another change was centered around preseason jamborees, which previously mandated every school must have two additional teams to compete against, but no more than three additional teams. For this season, schools are granted the option of participating in a two-team jamboree.
“The (MSHSAA) Board also took up two requests for relief of By-laws for the 2020-21 school year,” the release stated. “The first was concerning By-Law 3.16.6 and in conjunction with Board Policy 23. These two areas of the MSHSAA Handbook define a “preseason jamboree”. The Board granted relief from a portion of the terms and conditions to allow for an additional option of a two-team jamboree. This action was done to help schools wishing to take part in a preseason jamboree.”
This decision was another positive step for the safety of players and coaches because a school would still be allowed to participate in a jamboree, getting game-like experiences before it counts, while limiting the exposure of person-to-person contact by decreasing the number or student-athletes congregating on a field/court at the same time.
Lastly, the MSHSAA Board made changes to postseason eligibility for teams.
“(By-Law 5.1.2) states ‘To be eligible to enter a team or individual in any preliminary or state event, a school must have competed in at least half of the number of contests permitted under the by-law pertaining to that particular sport.’,” the release stated. “Given the sudden changes that may occur during the season, the Board voted to grant relief of this section of the by-law to allow teams that complete less than half of their scheduled contests to remain eligible for the postseason in their sport or activity.”
As with the virtual learning rule change, this was an amendment that absolutely had to happen while we continue to deal with COVID-19 cases. Essentially, this change allows for teams to still compete in postseason play even if they have to forfeit or cancel games due to isolating themselves if there is a cluster outbreak. Now, teams don’t have to worry about rushing back just to get enough games in. They can play it safe and make sure everything is back to being healthy and safe before returning to competition.
MSHSAA clearly had safety in mind when they made these changes for the upcoming season. It is my belief that any rule change that gives us a better chance of having 2020-21 prep sports is a good rule change, and each of these changes has done that.
