GHSA to make decisions this week

Last week, the GHSA recommended that all spring sports activities should be suspended for two weeks following a statement by Governor Brian Kemp regarding COVID-19.

Their latest update released on Monday and stated this:

“The GHSA staff will work remotely beginning Monday, March 16, and extending through Friday, March 27, at which time we plan to have an update on whether or not the current recommended two-week suspension will end or be extended.”

A few things can be assessed from their statement.

One, the two-week suspension isn’t concrete. If the coronavirus pandemonium subsides within the week, teams could resume play with missing just a couple games and may manage to play them if need be.

Two, the recommendations remain the same and the GHSA will need to either cancel, decide how playoffs will work out, or some other alternative.

Then there’s three, the extension. An extension could cancel the rest of spring sports, and possibly affect fall sports.

If it’s a brief extension, the GHSA will be in the toughest spot to decide on what teams will do. Will they push back the playoffs so teams can play missed games? That might be tough given all the variables that go into hosting the postseason.

Or do they skip straight into the postseason with the records that teams have now? That’s another difficult decision because teams’ schedules are so different when it comes to region play. Some teams have played five region games, some haven’t played any; and region games determine who advances to the playoffs.

Without many options, the GHSA is left with a tough choice; and if there’s an extension, it’s likely everything in spring could be canceled.

For Westfield School, they play in the GISA and their seasons are canceled until April 10 and can’t practice as long as the school is closed.

Westfield’s seasons are young and if the cancellations last just until April 10, baseball and soccer have three weeks of the regular season to play.

Either way, the GISA still has the same decisions to make and there are a lot of question marks regarding this whole get up.

These decisions won’t be easy to make for the boards because some aspects are out of their hands.

Teams can only hope this blows over sooner than later, but every day adds more paranoia throughout the country. Cautions have heightened; closing stores and suggestions from the White House seem to be precursors for a potential lockdown.

Like this whole predicament, what happens next is unforeseeable.

This pattern isn’t in favor of spring sports, or daily life even; but this week will determine the GHSA’s next step.

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