By JEFF TIRRELL
(GREENFIELD)– There will be no high school football in Massachusetts this fall. But there will be high school football in…late winter? That is the plan, at least for now. The MIAA Board of Directors laid out its plans for the athletic schedule for the upcoming school year.
The rumored four-season schedule is a go, pushing football to “Fall II,” also called a “floating season” that will run from Feb. 22 to April 25. There will be no Turkey Day football games this year, but the new cooperative football program, hosted by Greenfield High School and including GHS as well as players from Turners Falls, Mohawk Trail, and Pioneer will make its debut in late winter. All other fall sports, such as golf, field hockey, volleyball, cross-country and soccer can proceed, provided they make the necessary modifications to comply with guidelines set by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA). The various sports committees, working in conjunction with the MIAA Sports Medicine Committee, need to come up with those modifications by Aug. 25.
There will be no fall MIAA tournaments, although leagues can schedule their own tournaments or late-season jamborees. The status of playoffs for the other three seasons has yet to be determined. Student-athletes who wish to participate in all four seasons will be allowed to do so.
Today’s decision by the MIAA ends months of uncertainty regarding high school sports in Massachusetts, but it remains to be seen how the new plan is carried out, especially by local school districts, which are some of the smallest in the state.