The Michigan High School Athletic Association delivered the bad news Friday afternoon to football players, coaches and fans across the state.

The season, which was supposed to kick off Aug. 27-29, has been postponed until the spring due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. There is still hope, however, for student-athletes who compete in the rest of the fall sports, and they should get their answers soon.

MLive reporters have been busy gathering information in recent days regarding the state of high school athletics in Michigan. Here’s what we know:

1) When will we know more about sports other than football?

Wednesday, Aug. 19, is the big day. The MHSAA said that’s when student-athletes can expect to hear from them regarding what’s happening this fall for volleyball, boys soccer and girls swimming and diving.

2) Does it look like cross country, boys tennis and girls golf will be able to have their season?

MHSAA media and content developer Geoff Kimmerly said those sports are a go. In fact, there are events scheduled across the MLive coverage area beginning Wednesday, including the Tri-Valley Conference girls golf jamboree. Bay City Central and Bay City Western are scheduled to square off in boys tennis.

3) What’s the biggest holdup for volleyball and swimming, which are considered moderate-risk sports?

When Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer closed schools in March, she shut the doors to the gyms and pools, too. Schools are opening this month, but gyms, pools and weight rooms won’t open until the governor’s office says so.

4) It sounds like boys soccer may happen; what’s the difference between that and football?

It’s the difference between high and moderate risk. Soccer is deemed moderate, football is high. What makes one sport riskier than others is the opportunity for contact. Kimmerly said that the MHSAA continues to work with the state’s health department to get final approval for soccer.

5) Football has been delayed to the spring, but what can teams still do this fall?

The MHSAA hopes to release a set of fall guidelines for teams to follow by week’s end. Teams were given the green light to continue its preseason camps through Wednesday, and that includes helmets.

6) Any idea what a spring football season will look like?

No one knows for sure, but don’t look for teams to take their fall schedule and plop it down in the spring.

“What that football season looks like is certainly not a nine-game regular season; it’s going to be shorter,” MHSAA executive director Mark Uyl said on Monday afternoon’s Huge Show. “Then, at the end of that regular season, is there a way that you can do some kind of tournament to where everybody gets in? Or maybe it’s six regular-season games or five regular-season games against a round robin.

“So, I could even see something where we put schools into maybe groups of six, and you’re five regular season games are against those other five teams that are in your geographic grouping, and from there, you play a tournament out.”

7) What are some other initial challenges with football in the spring?

Cold weather, sloppy fields and forcing athletes to pick one sport over the other if there is too much overlap in seasons are three good reasons why football should only be play in the fall – unless, of course, there is a global pandemic and there’s no other choice.

Fans could be miss out, too, if the state’s most talented players elect to head off to college in January.

8) Could other fall sports have their seasons shortened, or just delayed, instead of being pushed to spring?

Absolutely.

But the clock will be ticking.

“If we are delayed until the beginning of September, that’s one thing and we can talk about it,” Kimmerly said. “But at the same time, we don’t want to push that season back, back, back. We would have to talk about moving those two sports to the spring as well and soccer if we don’t get permission. But we feel like we have been able to put some precautions into place to make it work so we will be able to play safely in the fall. We are hopeful.”

9) How could all this fall juggling affect winter and spring sports?

MHSAA officials said they are committed to offering three sports seasons, including shortening seasons, moving up winter and pushing back spring. Could winter sports begin in November and spring sports end in July? It appears all options are on the table.

“It’s all interconnected because if we were just a single-sport organization, you could make some decisions and move some things without having to worry about the other moving pieces to that, but we’re true believers in having multiple-sport athletes, and that’s something that if we have to get creative in the middle or back end of our school year, it’s going to be protecting those different experiences for multi-sport athletes as best as we can,” Uyl stated on an Aug. 12 interview on the Huge Show.

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