At a meeting on Tuesday night, the Board of Directors of the Colorado High School Activities Association, addressed a potential change to the 2020-21 sports and activities calendar.
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented many challenges. Specific to CHSAA activities, this has included trying to resume a traditional fall season for moderate- to high-risk contact sports. It has forced inequities when making statewide decisions for the 180,000 student-participants, 363 voluntary members schools, and 178 school districts across the state.
In a resolution Tuesday, the Board of Directors unanimously voted to not reconsider any adjustment to the 2020-21 sports calendar, which was approved on Aug. 4.
“We understand that our school communities would like to return to all levels of normalcy,” said Troy Baker, the President of CHSAA’s Board of Directors, and who is the athletic director at Buena Vista High School. “We listened to all parties and the voices of our membership resonated strongly to support the plan as approved in August. The plan aligns with the CHSAA mission. All students have an opportunity to play a season during the 2020-21 school year.”
Said Richard Hargrove, the superintendent of Springfield Schools, and a member of the Board of Directors: “We are focused on getting school started and running smoothly, as well as handling all the issues of running a school district and trying to have that be as normal as possible. We do not want to travel. The biggest thing for me in the end is that we have continued to move the goalposts, and every time we turned around, we had something else we had to adjust to.
“The discussion last night amplified that there was another potential goalpost movement,” Hargrove continued. “We have already developed a calendar that addresses the concerns of health officials, and gives all students a season and a chance to participate. We need to move forward with that plan.”
During the discussion, the Board as a whole noted that:
The safety, physical and emotional well-being of Colorado student’s participants must be at the forefront of every decision.
Diverse educational return-to-learn models exist throughout the state, and they must not be undermined.
Students have already integrated into non-traditional participation opportunities in the rural and metro areas.
There are Title IX and gender representation issues around any reconsideration of the approved calendar.
“Our state has seen new golf, tennis, softball, and cross country teams formed statewide,” said Terita Walker, an assistant principal at Denver East High School, and a member of the Board of Directors. “Once this plan was rolled out, school administrators and families began to reshape their lives around the calendar. We are moving forward knowing all of our students will have the chance to participate in 2021.”
The Board remains committed to being responsive to our community members and appreciate their feedback, outreach, and input throughout this process. CHSAA will continue to meet regularly with the Governor’s staff, COVID-19 Response Team, and educational and health officials to implement the 2020-21 Activities Calendar.
The cross country season can begin competition on Saturday.
Before that happens, we caught up with Jenn Roberts-Uhlig, the assistant commissioner in charge of the sport, to talk about key modifications to the sport in order to ensure it complies with state guidelines around the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Question: How will things look different this season?
Roberts-Uhlig: Typically, a season will have 11 meets, and that has been reduced to seven. We have shortened the season by two weeks in order to have our state championship event completed prior to the late-fall moratorium.
In working with the Governor’s COVID Response Team and other health agencies, we worked together to get cross country up and running within the established guidelines. These guidelines allow us to have starts in waves of no more than 25, with a minimum of two minutes between the waves starting.
Regular season races can have no more than 50 participants total. At regionals, there will be no more than 75 total. At the state meet, it’s 100 per classification, per gender.
Start and finish lines could look different, and we’ve approved time-trial starts.
Truly, for cross country — and really, for all of our sports — it is very important that coaches, teams and community members abide by the state guidelines to ensure safety and risk minimization for athletes, and to allow us to finish the season. That’s not just for the regular season. Everyone is going to have to follow these guidelines.
This means things like wearing masks, appropriate social distancing, and not congregating in one area. The start and finish areas may look different for spectators, as well.
Q: What about masks?
Roberts-Uhlig: Athletes are going to be required to have a mask at the start line. As they proceed into a part of the course where they aren’t around a mass of people, they can remove the mask, but it must be back on at the finish line.
Spectators are going to be required to wear a mask at all times. They need to social distance outside of their family units. Again, we need everyone to follow these guidelines to ensure we can finish the season.
Q: We’ve already heard about schools moving away from big invitationals and are instead planning dual, triangular, and quad meets. Can you expand on that?
Roberts-Uhlig: Yes, and this is allowed so long as they meet the requirements of 50 athletes per race.
This season, we expect to see more of those types of meets as everyone navigates trying to stay within the maximum athletes allowed, and trying to limit the amount of teams participating.
Also, as league meets and big invitationals navigate this, they are looking at setting up multi-day meets, such as having two races of 50 per day.
Q: What about the postseason? What is that going to look like?
Roberts-Uhlig: Qualifying into regionals will look different. We’ll have more information on this soon.
State will continue to be held at Norris Penrose Event Center on Oct. 17. There will be plenty of time in between races to allow for a transition.
We are now putting classifications together at the state meet, so, for example, 4A girls and 4A boys will run back-to-back. As soon as those races are over, those participants, coaches and spectators will exit the venue, and the next classification will come in following a buffer of at least an hour. We need to be sure they’re cleared out between races.
Doing this will allow us to have 100 participants, per classification, per gender at the state event.
Q: Are you seeing schools add cross country this fall?
Roberts-Uhlig: Yes, we have had about 10 schools add a program. In addition, existing programs are seeing a lot more kids come out within their school.
In general, the cross country community is growing as kids are finding that this is a way to participate this fall, and that’s exciting to see.
The softball season begins with games on Thursday.
With things ramping up, we caught up with Bert Borgmann, the assistant commissioner in charge of the sport, to dig into the details about the modifications which were made to ensure softball complies with current health guidelines.
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Question: Softball was among the first sports to be given a green light to play this fall. Can you go into detail as to why?
Borgmann: Early on, softball was identified by the Governor’s COVID Response team as a sport that could be played because it easily adjusts to the social distancing requirements.
Resuming athletics and activities requires answering and demonstrating certain safety measures to many different groups — including state, health, and educational decision makers. We believe softball can complete their season if all those involved — players, coaches and schools — adhere to the guidelines.
Q: Many sports have made adjustments to the sport seasons because of COVID. What are some ways that softball will look different?
Borgmann: Since the COVID-19 virus is a new disease and information changes quickly, we determined that to maintain the health and safety guidelines, limiting potential contact through games was a logical step. So teams will play 16 regular season games at maximum, as opposed to the typical 23.
When it became apparent that other sports would have to move to abbreviated seasons, and the potential for regional flare-ups this fall, reducing the season length was appropriate.
Teams are also limited to 12 players on a game day roster, and teams will qualify directly to the state tournament from the regular season.
[Note: These health and safety guidelines are outlined in the softball bulletin.]
Q: Why is the game roster limited to 12 players?
Borgmann: Current state-mandated guidelines allow for a total of 25 players on any one field. We adjusted to 12 players for each team to maintain equity. CHSAA will respond with appropriate modifications to this roster limit should restrictions be lessened in coming weeks.
Teams may have more than 12 players on their varsity roster, but can only put 12 in uniform for any single game. A player may be replaced on the roster after each game of the state tournament has been completed, but no more than 12 players may be suited up for each team during each game.
Q: What was the reason to have teams qualify directly to the state brackets and not have regionals this year?
Borgmann: As noted earlier, we want the players to have as long a regular season as possible. And, coupled with the exposure issues that arise for schools when there are multiple days of a state tournament, we looked at how to conduct a one-day tournament for 16 teams in each of the classifications.
The sport had already adjusted its qualifying and seeding procedure to employ RPI, CHSAANow Coaches Poll and MaxPreps rankings, so this will provide a competitive field for those that qualify.
Q: Will players be required to wear masks?
Borgmann: The requirement of masks is determined by state, county and local health officials. Currently, the entire state is under a requirement to wear masks when in public places.
Players, coaches and all team personnel, including umpires, are required by CHSAA to wear masks upon entering and exiting the ballpark. The state, county and local rules will dictate if they have to wear face-coverings on the field.
Additionally, players and coaches must wear mask and social distance while in the team dugouts. That may require some players placed outside the field or inside near the fences when on offense.
Borgmann: A final thought: If we want to see the 2020 season come to completion with the crowning of a state champion, it is imperative that all those involved in the sport follow the guideline established by the state, county and local health departments, along with the CHSAA. We have a personal responsibility to ensure that we protect the sport we love.
And that may mean doing things we do not like, but it’s the only way we can have a positive conclusion to the season!
We celebrated this week when boys golf started not only practice on Monday, but competition on Thursday. It marked the start of returning to Colorado high school athletics and activities for the 2020-2021 school year.
For the past three months, we have had a voice at the table. We advocated and received approval, with exceptions, to move forward. Is it ideal? No. But the approval given to us by our state, health and educational officials positioned 29 education-based and interscholastic sports for a better chance to start, conduct a season, advance to the postseason, and end with a culminating event.
I have said often since March, and I reiterate again in this update, the safety of all parties involved with the high school experience will always take precedence over a game, scholarship, club season or personal choices.
The social, emotional, mental health, well-being and belonging to something bigger than individualism isn’t defined by what season students play in.
My only priority as the Commissioner in the past 148 days was to get our students back to the court, back to the field, back in the pools, back on the stages — by any means necessary.
The CHSAA doesn’t get to act as a rogue organization. Resuming athletics and activities required answering and demonstrating assured safety measures to many different entities — including state, health, educational decision makers.
We are not recreational sports, youth sports, or club sports.
Participation in locally-controlled practices and outside events this summer led to an increase in district and team shutdowns across the state of Colorado. They didn’t all go “just fine,” as some on social media insist. Statewide county health departments documented statewide instances of positive cases and social spread amongst the population we serve.
High school events, with one positive case, have the potential to shut down classrooms. In rural areas, a positive case has the potential, even for 14 days, to shut down a K-12 district.
Contact sports, by all health metrics, pose a risk challenge to contact tracing, isolation, and mitigating the potential spread.
This is not about opinions from epidemiologists, political affiliations, or narratives. This is a fact. This isn’t about low risk populations or student deaths. It is about negatively impacting the educational institutions we serve.
Sports and activities are not the purpose of our schools. Sports and activities are an extension of our schools.
I don’t expect everyone to read this update from a bigger lens outside their own opinion, and consider all the data points and information. Nor is that an expectation because that is my job.
The priority of the Response team were to resume sports and activities, provide equitable high school opportunities for all students across the state, and support the many challenges Colorado superintendents and educational leaders are facing to “Return to Learn.” This was supported 100% by our office.
We are a statewide educational-based association with 363 public, private, and charter voluntary members, serving 178 school districts. We answer to state, health, educational agencies, and our members schools.
The seasons will be conducted as released and approved. There are no negotiations nor comprises on student safety with the many unknowns surrounding COVID-19. We will err on the side of safety and risk minimization. No waiver or declaration of our rights will change the decision.
Participation in co-curricular activities is a privilege afforded to us as an extension of the academic environment.
It is important to note that green-lighting five different seasons and championships based upon differences in regional COVID-19 rates is an unreasonable ask when alternative and creative opportunities can be met at the local level to support student engagement and the well-being of our students.
The Association will conduct one competitive season for each of the 29 athletic and activity events as approved by the state’s COVID Response Team.
Threats to move, protest, boycott, petitions, letters to the Governor, and so on, are all within our given rights. We recently approved some temporary safeguards for CHSAA student-athletes that will ensure that our students won’t be displaced by transfers coming in or returning back after playing another state for athletic purposes. We will do everything possible to uphold the integrity and credibility of education-based participation.
The Governor’s COVID Response Team has approved the seasons for the 2020-2021 competitive season. Our Association has accepted their decision and will work to make it happen, because at the end of the day it is about providing opportunities for Colorado high students. It is about providing social interaction opportunities whether in a practice or a competitive setting.
We have successfully accomplished getting our students and coaches back on the court and field. Our resumption to conduct 29 activities is outlined for 2020-2021.
The Association is excited to be given the opportunity to reconnect our students when they need it, now more than ever in their world of uncertainty.
148 days ago, I couldn’t deliver a message of “hope.” So I stand today on my introduction: This is a time of Celebration! Colorado athletics and activities are back!
With girls volleyball’s move to the spring, we thought it was a good idea to take a glance at more info about the move.
So we caught up with Bethany Brookens, the assistant commissioner who oversees volleyball, to ask her some questions.
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Question: What was the reasoning behind moving volleyball to the Season C in March?
Brookens: We worked really hard to try to offer girls volleyball this fall, and I was very optimistic that it would be approved. There are 346 of our 363 member schools that offer girls volleyball. That’s 95 percent of our membership. We wanted to give them an opportunity to fully participate and engage with a sport at the start of school.
With that being said, when we found out on Tuesday that volleyball was not approved to move forward in Season A, we placed it in Season C to maintain consistency with sports that traditionally compete in the same season. So volleyball is with other traditional fall sports, like football, boys soccer and field hockey.
Q: Why wasn’t volleyball placed in another season, such as D, or B?
Bethany Brookens. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
Brookens: When looking where to place volleyball, we had to take a global approach to figure out what was best for all high school participants across the state. The reality is that this is not just about volleyball. Knowing that facility space would be tough, as well as overlap of student-athletes, made the process tricky.
With all the winter sports being moved to Season B, we could not place volleyball there due to a lack of gym space, and the fact that many smaller and rural schools have a high number of basketball players who also play volleyball.
We did look to try to move girls volleyball to Season D, where our traditional spring sports are now offered. We wanted to offer volleyball during a season that would allow girls to have as many opportunities for participation as possible, which aligns with Title IX. If we were to move it to Season D, this would only limit participation opportunities for girls.
There are five other girls sports offered in Season D — most notably, track and field, which is a huge sport for our small schools and rural communities. Again, this is a state-wide decision. We are not just making decisions for metro-area volleyball players.
There are nearly 17,000 girls who play volleyball as part of our school programs across the state. We looked to do what is best for all female student-athletes interested in playing volleyball and all of our sports as a whole. We didn’t want to limit participation opportunities in other high school activities.
Q: What about club volleyball and high school volleyball now sharing a season?
(Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)
Brookens: It’s unfortunate that the main club volleyball season overlaps with Season C. Colorado state law, and our bylaws, allow students to participate in both a high school season and a club season concurrently, with permission from their principal.
With that being said, realistically, it may be tough for some players to do both. I know that club coaches and high school coaches have high expectations for their players, and they should. I do not view us as in competition with club volleyball.
Families and student-athletes may ultimately have to make a choice and a decision that is best for them. We are in the midst of a pandemic, and things are not going to be normal, or fair. We are living through challenging times.
If athletes choose to play club instead of high school this year, we understand their decision. At the same time, this may open up other opportunities for high school student-athletes who may not have had an opportunity to participate for the high school team otherwise.
CHSAA is an organization for all student-participants, not only the high-profile players who may have college opportunities after they graduate.
DENVER — Gov. Jared Polis made good on his pledge to attend the first day of high school sports competition.
Polis visited the DPS Invitational at Wellshire Golf Course on Thursday morning, a tournament that marked the first day high school sports competition in the state since the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic shut down athletics in mid-March.
“It’s great to have high school sports back,” Polis said. “High school sports are a big part of who we are, and it drives a lot of kids to be part of their school environment, to socialize, to learn those skills that are so important in the work force: being a member of a team, leadership, stepping up when you need to be part of the whole.
“It’s great that high school sports are back, really due to the hard work of Coloradans. The fact that Coloradans are being safe, they’re wearing masks, they’re staying six feet from others,” Polis continued. “We see that in having lower viral numbers than a lot of the other states that are hot spots. Part of that reward for that is that kids are going to have all of the different high school sports season that we have, and they’ll have an opportunity to participate in organized high school sports this year.”
The DPS Invitational included 15 teams: Denver North, Erie, Cherry Creek, Cheyenne Mountain, Arvada West, Regis Jesuit, Denver East, Lakewood, Denver South, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Rock Canyon, Boulder, Northfield and Conifer.
Gov. Jared Polis: “The last official high school sports competition was March 12. I was glad that CHSAA announced today that they are going to get every high school sports event in this season. And I plan to attend the very first high school sports competition when that occurs, we hope, in the coming weeks. Really an important milestone for high school athletes.
“Now just like professional athletes which we’re all watching, and just like college athletics, it’s not going to look like any other season. Obviously, if there’s a Coronavirus outbreak on a team or at a school or on a team, there will be scheduling changes, there will be games missed, but at least for that meaningful experience that sports brings … I’m glad that the high school youth sports are going to be back. I’m glad that they are able to do every sport.
“And, of course, just like professional sports, it’s not going to be like every other season, but they will have their championships, they will have their shortened seasons, they will have their practices, and the kids will be able to participate in that.
“And that’s really an important part of our society. And I want to applaud CHSAA for moving forward with youth sports in high school for this year in Colorado in a safe way that makes sure that we can engage youth, and we do it in a way that doesn’t jeopardize a major setback for our state with regard to where we are for Coronavirus.”
What does that mean for the sport? We caught up with CHSAA assistant commissioner Adam Bright, who oversees football, to ask.
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Question: What was the reasoning behind moving football to the spring?
Bright: Given current state guidelines, football and contact sports would not be able to resume on a normal calendar.
This is a year where we have to forget what the top of the calendar says. It really doesn’t matter what month it is. We have to be focused on the fact that the season is able to play, period. The fact that we are able to give these kids a chance to compete, to participate with their teammates, learn from their coaches, is what matters.
Q: OK spill the details … how many games, what do playoffs look like, and so on? What’s the plan?
Bright: It will start on Feb. 22, and run through May 8. Games will begin on March 4. There will not be a scrimmage week, nor will there be “foundation games” this season. Because of that, games will begin at the end of the second week of practice. Thursday, March 4 would be the first allowable game, meaning that teams will conduct practices Monday through Saturday during that first week, then would need three practices from Monday to Wednesday of the second week to achieve the mandatory nine practices prior to the first game.
The football season will be seven weeks long. Given that football is played only one game per week, seven games allows for a season that resembles a “normal” season and maximizes contests during the same number of weeks as other sports.
Football is being allowed to start practice a week earlier than other sports in Season C because of the required number of practices to begin play. And because it only has one game per week, the football postseason is extended an additional week to allow for a longer postseason.
Q: So with the season being reduced to seven games, how will scheduling work?
Bright: To build a schedule, we will build off of what their fall 2020 season was to look like. We will send this information to athletic directors so that there is a clear understanding of what schedules will look like.
The overarching goal is to have teams begin their schedules roughly midway through what would have been their normal schedule. For example, 5A and 4A will begin in Week 4 and play games 4-10 as games 1-7. In 3A the season would include Weeks 5-11, with 2A and below starting on Week 4 and playing through Week 10. Our friends in 6-man football would play games regularly scheduled in weeks 3 through 9 as games 1-7.
Obviously, there are things like bye weeks and out-of-state games for some teams in Weeks 4 and 5 mostly, and we will work in conjunction with athletic directors to build a database of open weeks for teams to fill. The expectation is teams will play their condensed season as scheduled, utilizing the database as a resource to fill previously scheduled bye weeks.
Q: In my best Jim Mora voice: “Playoffs? You want to talk about playoffs?”
Bright: The football postseason will see a reduction to eight teams in each classification. These eight teams will all enter the postseason at the same time, and championships will all be done on the same weekend.
As we have seen, things can change quickly within the pandemic, and as such, logistics like location and time for these championship games will be a work in progress as we move closer to that time. Seeding and qualification for the postseason will be based on the four data points within the CHSAA Seeding Index, with the top eight eligible teams in each classification being placed in the postseason.
Q: Are there any practice limits or other items that would be different than a “normal” season?
Bright: Again, as things can change during this pandemic, we would have to take a wait and see approach. We have discussed various practice guidelines and scenarios based on different levels of COVID-19 restrictions and outbreaks. To speak to what the end of February and the month of March will require on the 4th of August is premature.
If we do foresee needs for practice guidelines that differ from those in the past, I can assure our coaches that they will have plenty of time to implement any changes if necessary.
AURORA — The Colorado High School Activities Association has announced its 2020-2021 interscholastic athletics and activities calendar, following months of collaboration with Gov. Jared Polis, the CHSAA Resocialization Task Force, the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, the state’s COVID-19 Response team, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and the CHSAA Board of Directors and administrative staff.
“The health and safety of our student participants, coaches, officials and essential personnel, including volunteers is a primary concern for the return of interscholastic athletics and activities,” said CHSAA Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green. “We are very grateful for the state, health and educational leaders for their shared commitment of a return to these highly beneficial education programs when it is deemed safe for all school communities.”
Note that the resumption of all activities and athletics are subject to change based upon any changes to national, state or local guidelines.
The 2020-21 season will be played with a modified sport schedule due to the on-going global pandemic, creating four separate sports seasons during the school year.
Following a phone call with Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday, Blanford-Green and CHSAA received a final response on the plan it submitted to the state’s COVID response team. This includes the clearance for cross country to begin this fall.
Due to the restrictive nature of the current state guidelines, and the ability to follow Colorado Department of Education requirements, all contact sports have been moved to a season which will commence later in the calendar, and allow for playoffs and culminating events without creating new conflicts.
“We would like to thank our member schools and our school communities for their patience as we worked through the many challenges to get to where we are today,” Blanford-Green said.
The modified calendar splits sports into four seasons, concluding in late June: A, B, C and D
Dates and plans for non-athletic activities continue to be formulated.
For specific dates and sports seasons, see the calendar below.
Each season is approximately seven weeks from start to finish. Sports will have their regular season competition limits reduced. The postseason for each sport will also be shortened, including the number of state qualifiers.
The following 2020 fall sports will begin as originally scheduled: boys golf began practice on Aug. 3, softball and boys tennis is set to begin on Aug. 10, and cross country on Aug. 12. According to the modified calendar, this is Season A.
The remaining traditional fall sports are unable to be played under current state health guidelines. These sports are field hockey, football, gymnastics, boys soccer, spirit, unified bowling and girls volleyball.
The sports played this fall will all be concluded by October 17. See the calendar below for specific dates.
In anticipation of data from the state which shows a likely resurgence of COVID-19 cases in late fall, there will be a participation moratorium from Oct. 18, 2020 to Jan. 3, 2021.
Sports in Season B will begin on Jan. 4, and conclude by March 6. These sports include: basketball, ice hockey, skiing, spirit, girls swimming and wrestling.
Season C, which begins on March 1 and concludes with championships by May 1, includes the following sports: field hockey, football, gymnastics, boys soccer, unified bowling and girls volleyball.
“I am very happy we will be having a season,” said Sterling volleyball coach Lisa Schumacher. “Even though it will be delayed, we will look forward to our season in the spring.”
Due to the specific equipment and safety rules around football, that sport will begin practice on Feb. 22, and conclude on May 8.
“I like that the creation of the seasons doesn’t disrupt any of the traditional season, no create new conflicts between sports,” said West Grand football coach Chris Brown, the state’s all-time winningest football coach. “And by knowing there is a season out there, it should help keep student-athlete academically engaged throughout the year.”
Said Ryan Goddard, the football coach at Pueblo South who is the football chair for the Colorado High School Coaches Association: “Certainly not the decision that we were hoping for but we are really looking forward to providing student-athletes with opportunities to compete in educational based activities in an unprecedented time. Allowing our kids to compete is what’s important, the date on the calendar is secondary.”
Said Dave Logan, the football coach at Cherry Creek who is set to be inducted in the NFHS Hall of Fame: “While I am disappointed we cannot play this fall, I appreciate the fact, given the parameters of engagement, that CHSAA has done everything they can do to allow all of our students in all of our extracurricular activities to have a season in the 2020-21 school year.”
The 2020-21 calendar will conclude with Season D. Sports include: baseball, girls golf, boys and girls lacrosse, girls soccer, girls tennis, boys swimming, track and field and boys volleyball. This season will begin with practice on April 26, and it concludes with the final championship on June 26.
Specific sport modifications, practice requirements, game requirements and procedures will be communicated by Thursday, including in bulletins that can be found on CHSAANow.com.
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CHSAA 2020-21 Activities Calendar
The resumption of all activities and athletics are subject to change based upon any changes to national, state or local guidelines related to COVID-19. Sport-specific details will be communicated by Thursday.
