By Paul Durham paul@wilsontimes.com | 265-7808
The North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association made official Friday morning what many had known was coming for weeks — the remainer of its spring sports season has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both Greenfield School and Community Christian School in Wilson are NCISAA member institutions.
The announcement from NCISAA Executive Director Homar Ramirez said that there would be “no regular-season activities, playoffs or championships.” The statement also said that there would be no NCISAA All-State teams selected for spring sports and there would be no Wells Fargo Cups awarded at the state or conference levels this year.
Ramirez also instructed member schools’ athletic programs to begin their summer protocol May 18.
The NCISAA had suspended all contests indefinitely on March 13 but Friday’s announcement brought closure to the 2019-20 school year.
Rob Salter, the Greenfield athletic director, is on the NCISAA board of advisers and said that cancellation had been discussed for some time.
“We've been trying to hold it off because we feel terrible for our kids, especially the seniors because they're missing something they love to do,” he said. “But safety is our No. 1 priority and that's what the state's going by, so unfortunately we had to call it.”
Salter said that, for now, the plan is to start the 2020-21 sports year on schedule but there are contingencies being put together for further interruptions due to the coronavirus.
“We’ve worked on three different plans if we have to postpone it,” he said. “So we’re definitely planning for it, but there definitely is going to be a fall state tournament, no matter what, even if we have to shrink the season a little bit.”
The NCISAA fall sports season will begin officially on Aug. 1.
Salter said that safety is still the paramount concern of the NCISAA but the focus moving forward will be on giving the student-athletes a chance to play again and not on any potential changes to the schedule in the fall.
“Our No. 1 focus is we just want to play, (for the students to) get back out there with their friends and enjoy what they do,” he said. “I know as ADs and schools sometimes we really worry about the details of state tournaments and we just can't worry about that now. We’ve just got to worry about getting our kids back out on the fields and the courts, playing and having fun again.”
The North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association made official Friday morning what many had known was coming for weeks — the remainer of its spring sports season has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both Greenfield School and Community Christian School in Wilson are NCISAA member institutions.
The announcement from NCISAA Executive Director Homar Ramirez said that there would be “no regular-season activities, playoffs or championships.” The statement also said that there would be no NCISAA All-State teams selected for spring sports and there would be no Wells Fargo Cups awarded at the state or conference levels this year.
Ramirez also instructed member schools’ athletic programs to begin their summer protocol May 18.
The NCISAA had suspended all contests indefinitely on March 13 but Friday’s announcement brought closure to the 2019-20 school year.
Rob Salter, the Greenfield athletic director, is on the NCISAA board of advisers and said that cancellation had been discussed for some time.
“We've been trying to hold it off because we feel terrible for our kids, especially the seniors because they're missing something they love to do,” he said. “But safety is our No. 1 priority and that's what the state's going by, so unfortunately we had to call it.”
Salter said that, for now, the plan is to start the 2020-21 sports year on schedule but there are contingencies being put together for further interruptions due to the coronavirus.
“We’ve worked on three different plans if we have to postpone it,” he said. “So we’re definitely planning for it, but there definitely is going to be a fall state tournament, no matter what, even if we have to shrink the season a little bit.”
The NCISAA fall sports season will begin officially on Aug. 1.
Salter said that safety is still the paramount concern of the NCISAA but the focus moving forward will be on giving the student-athletes a chance to play again and not on any potential changes to the schedule in the fall.
“Our No. 1 focus is we just want to play, (for the students to) get back out there with their friends and enjoy what they do,” he said. “I know as ADs and schools sometimes we really worry about the details of state tournaments and we just can't worry about that now. We’ve just got to worry about getting our kids back out on the fields and the courts, playing and having fun again.”
