WIAA pushes high school football to Spring 2021

OLYMPIA, Wash.-- High school sports in the state of Washington will not happen until the Spring of 2021 at the soonest, according to the latest decision from the board that oversees school athletics.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) Executive Board voted at its meeting Tuesday to change the 2020-21 WIAA sports season calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to information released by WIAA, those changes include creating four WIAA-sanctioned seasons, moving moderate- and high-risk team sports that were scheduled to take place this fall, to the WIAA Season 3.

Season 1 will include fall sports like cross country, slowpitch softball, golf, and tennis. Practices for those sports will begin the week of September 7, 2020.

• WIAA Season 1: Cross Country, Slowpitch Softball, Girls Swim & Dive*, Golf (Alternative Season), Tennis (Alternative Season)
• WIAA Season 2: Basketball, Bowling, Boys Swim & Dive, Gymnastics, Cheerleading, Wrestling
• WIAA Season 3: Volleyball, Girls Soccer, 1B/2B Boys Soccer, Football
• WIAA Season 4: Tennis, Fastpitch Softball, Track & Field, Baseball, Golf, Boys Soccer, Dance/Drill

The Board clarified that the plan could change depending on how counties are controlling the spread of COVID-19. The Executive Board will create benchmarks on July 28 to be met in order for WIAA Season 1 to take place. If the benchmarks are not met, the Board will plan to move the remainder of fall sports to WIAA Season 3.

“Since March, the philosophy of our Association has been to allow students every chance to participate,” said WIAA Executive Director Mick Hoffman. “We’ve asked our Executive Board and planning committees to be as creative as possible in allowing for those opportunities. These are tough and unprecedented decisions to make, but it has been inspiring to see so many people around the state come together to work on behalf of students.”