The winter sports season for area high schools will start as planned, with a slightly longer-than-normal break in the middle for the holidays, and without fans in the stands for the first two months.
The state’s governing board eschewed Tuesday a recommendation from a medical advisory committee to push back the start of winter sports until mid-January because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead, basketball and wrestling will begin next week, with Iola High School set to host Anderson County on Dec. 4. Iola’s wrestlers are slated to compete at Burlington Dec. 4 and then at Caney Valley the next day.
Other area schools also will start their seasons the first week of December.
The decisions were handed down as part of a four-hour meeting by the Kansas State High School Activities Association’s Board of Directors, a 78-member group representing schools, leagues and other entities spanning the state.
The virtual meeting attracted thousands of online viewers, who watched members debate extensively several aspects of the winter sports scene.
Among their decisions:
— Competitions will run Dec. 1-23, then resume Jan. 8.
— Spectators will not be allowed to attend those competitions until Jan. 28.
— A midseason moratorium on practice and competition originally was set for Dec. 23-27, but now will run Dec. 23-Jan. 3.
— Basketball tournaments will be limited to four teams, unless host schools have two gymnasiums for competitors.
— All non-competitors must wear protective masks.
— The number of competitions will not be reduced for the 2020-21 season.
— Wrestling tournaments will have no more than eight schools or 112 participants.
— Middle school winter sports will follow the same guidelines as the high schools’.
