The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference set forth its parameters Friday for a return to play in all of its traditional high school fall sports, albeit with late starts and shortened seasons.

Regular-season games will not begin until Sept. 24 and postseason tournaments are scheduled to end no later than Nov. 15 — meaning there will be no Thanksgiving football games — but the CIAC has decided the health metrics in Connecticut warrant at least an attempt at offering students a chance to return to sports.

“We do think the health metrics in Connecticut right now suggest it is safe to play in the fall.” CIAC Executive Director Glenn Lungarini

The winter season championships during the 2019-20 academic year and the entire 2020 spring sports season were canceled due to health concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We do think the health metrics in Connecticut right now suggest it is safe to play in the fall,” CIAC Executive Director Glenn Lungarini said. “Sports have successfully been playing in our state since June 20. Because sports are such an important part of the lives of more than 70,000 high school kids, we are grateful our state leadership has provided us with the best COVID health metrics in the country and an opportunity to give this to our kids.”

The metrics show that only slightly more than 1% of all those tested for the virus in Connecticut have a positive result. And since Phase 2 of Gov. Ned Lamont’s state reopening plan began June 20, youth, high school and collegiate summer leagues have been successfully playing a variety of sports with limited virus fallout.

Though Lungarini said he feels cautiously optimistic the fall season can be played, it won’t look anything like what we’ve seen in the past.

In addition to shortened, condensed regular seasons of 6 to 12 games in all sports, teams will play regional schedules against the closest 10 schools to them geographically rather than full conference slates.

SAFETY PROTOCOLS WILL BE PARAMOUNT, beginning with strict daily self-health monitoring that will sideline players who self-report any one of 12 symptoms. While athletes involved in high-intensity competition on the field will not be required to wear masks, everyone on the sidelines and stands will be.

Individual schools or districts will determine whether fans will be allowed at games, and only schools with some type of on-campus learning will be allowed to let their students participate in sports.

All sports will begin a three-week conditioning period next week, with small group practices starting Aug. 27 in all sports but football, which will begin 10 days earlier on Aug. 17. Full-team practices for all sports begin Sept. 11, with the first scrimmages allowed Sept. 18 and regular-season play starting Sept. 24.

Connecticut’s health metrics suggest the season should start as early as possible, but Lungarini said that just isn’t feasible for two reasons.

“One is the conditioning,” he said. “There is consensus from our medical doctors we spoke to, as well as the Connecticut Athletic Trainers Association, that conditioning time is necessary. The trainers actually thought it should be four weeks. The consensus between the doctors, the trainers and us was that three weeks would be appropriate.”

He said the long period of inactivity over the past four to five months is a concern. The CIAC doesn’t want to force kids to ramp up too quickly and put themselves at risk for a variety of injuries because they aren’t physically ready.

“It is a very unique scenario for everybody, both in the sports arena as well as the educational setting.” CIAC Executive Director Glenn Lungarini

And while some teams, in football especially, have been conditioning already, not all schools were able to do so. Even the schools that did offer conditioning practices did so on a volunteer basis so all players may not have attended.

“The other key factor is that we are an education-based opportunity,” Lungarini said. “Before we are in full-team settings and bringing teams from local towns to our facilities to play, we have to have an opportunity for our schools to get back on campus for learning. It is a very unique scenario for everybody, both in the sports arena as well as the educational setting.”

In the spring when all sports were canceled, one of the main factors was that if school districts decided it wasn’t safe to return to in-school learning then the CIAC deemed it unsafe to play sports. That same approach is being taken in the fall.

“The intention of this plan is it would include schools in either a full in-person education model or a hybrid model of in-school and distance learning,” Lungarini said. “If kids are in school two days per week and home two days per week, (the plan) would consider it appropriate for them to be playing. If it is not safe for kids to be on campus for learning, then it is likely not safe for kids to be on campus for sports.”

IT IS A FLUID SITUATION that warrants more discussion, Lungarini said. He expects more input on this from superintendents, principals, athletic directors, coaches and parents. As more information is learned, things could change.

“For now, if the decision was made for all or the vast majority of our schools to go to a distance-learning model … then it is not safe for our kids to be on campus for sports,” Lungarini said.

Games, including postseason play, have been condensed into seven weeks. Normally, the football season would be 13 to 14 weeks.

“There were multiple factors leading to the shortened season,” Lungarini said. “One mitigating factor was responsibly limiting contact as much as possible while still providing our students with meaningful experiences.”

He said the CIAC learned from students after the sudden stoppage of the winter championships and the cancellation of the spring season that what they missed most was a sense of closure — be it the end of a season, senior night or a chance to win a championship.

“So even though right now the health metrics in Connecticut are very strong and nothing suggests you should end a season early, we have to look out and try to predict the unpredictable of what is going to happen two to three months from now, and take into account the onset of flu season.”

Lungarini said given the fact most colleges are not returning to campus after Thanksgiving and are finishing the fall semester online, it seemed prudent to end the fall season early enough to provide the best opportunity for closure.

“We think finishing by the second week of November is our best chance to give kids a very good and meaningful season, and also provide them with those senior nights and closure activities that mean so much to them.”

Of course, Lungarini warns the excitement associated with Friday’s announcement should be tempered by caution.

“We have to still remind people the health and safety of our kids and our community will remain at the forefront of our decision making,” he said. “If the health metrics change … and we need to close, we will do that because it is what’s best for the kids.”

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