MOSCOW, Idaho — Editor’s note: The above video was from when KREM went to Moscow football practice on Monday, August 10th.

The Moscow School District announced Thursday night that they will not play high school sports in a traditional format this fall. 

Their students will play intramurals against each other, but will not travel to other schools.

Moscow is the first Idaho high school in the region to opt out of playing traditional fall sports.

This applies for both middle school and high school sports in Moscow.

The school district says they reached this decision because they felt it was in the best interest of their community’s safety.

“Unfortunately, after further review, we have determined that there is too great to risk to our students and community when travelling to other communities, as well as when other communities come to our facilities. We also believe that during some of the activities where masks are unable to be worn due to high levels of exertion, the chance of moisture contact from other athletes is too great,” said the school district in a press release.

The school district says they hope to establish a “bubble” within their community by playing against each other instead of other schools. They will be refunding a percentage of the fees already paid by athletes if they chose not to participate in the new format. The press release however did not detail exactly how much the school district would be refunding.

As of Thursday night, the IHSAA still is planning on playing fall sports.