The MIAA COVID task force implemented several modifications for fall sports while not allowing football and volleyball to compete until a Fall II season.

Massachusetts fall sports coaches and athletes are still coming to terms with regulations that have either canceled or modified their sports for the fall.

The MIAA COVID task force implemented several modifications for fall sports while not allowing football and volleyball to compete until a Fall II season, scheduled until February.

While field hockey, cross country, soccer and others adjust to athletics in the time of COVID-19, football and volleyball are trying to find ways to keep their athletes engaged through road blocks, no matter how they feel about the decision making.

“Even as aware of things as I was, I was kind of blindsided,” said Milford girls volleyball coach Tammy Webber. “I went into it thinking volleyball was going to happen. I thought it was going to be ok, and I figured volleyball would make it. I was a little shocked.”

The MIAA designated volleyball as a Fall I sport, scheduled to play before the winter season, but allowed 90 minutes of practice 10 days per month.

Milford, however, won’t be a part of that; the Hockomock League canceled all practices and coaching of high school teams, unless there were to be a clinic open to the entire student body population.

The MIAA cited CDC guidelines for their modifications of active sports, and went with EEA guidelines for their sports deemed too high-risk.

That took football off the table across the state.

“We’re in the middle of a pandemic,” said Wayland football coach Scott Parseghian. “Nobody is going to make a decision that’s going to please everybody right now. I can understand that. I’m glad they’re trying to provide us with a season at some point.

“We’re more of a contact sport, I get why they’re holding off on us.”

Those guidelines allow room for some socially distanced practices, and Wayland is planning on having pods of 10 players at a time to participate – without pads – under the lights on Friday nights to emulate when they would have competed in games.

“When the spring sports season was officially canceled, we focused on what needs to happen to get students back on the field come the fall season,” said MIAA Director of Communications Tara Bennett. “The task force has the EEA guidelines for youth sports initially put out, and later in the summer they were modified along with the Department of Education guidelines. They utilized those guidelines and looked into other states, recognizing Massachusetts is its own area with its own guidelines.”

Massachusetts schools starting later than many other states allowed the task force time to look at guidelines across other states and “pick and choose” what fit well for the state, and follows what the EEA has already laid out.

“Everyone is very passionate about sports, understandably,” said Bennett. “We would love to say every sport right now is low risk, but that’s not the guidelines we have. It is a challenge to satisfy everyone and you’re not going to. We know we have many football schools who are not participating and they’re not pleased, then some fall sports taking place with modifications.”

For sports currently allowed to play, like soccer and field hockey, EEA guidelines asks all athletes to wear masks during play whenever in close contact with other players, and there’s sanitation stations throughout facilities.

Wayland’s football practices are following a similar model, while keeping the kids in small groups just to give them the chance to participate, with a focus on safety.

“No one is going to change anyone’s mind,” said Parseghian. “We sat back and waited to see what they said and went from there. When they said there was a possibility of some sort of practices, I went to the athletic director and said listen, we need this. Not us, the kids need this. What a great opportunity to get the kids together. We were lucky the board of health approved workouts midway through the summer.”

The EEA originally cited volleyball as moderate risk, but some schools have opted to move it to the Fall II season because it’s played in indoor gyms in closer proximity.

Many gyms are also being used as socially distanced classrooms, though Webber said that’s not the case in Milford.

“I really think they could have been playing some sort of volleyball,” said Webber. “It could have worked. I believe it could have happened, there’s just so many logistics.”

Fall sports are just beginning and it seems like there’s less answers than ever about the safety and ethics of sports going forward into winter, spring, and now Fall II seasons.

What football looks like in February, whether it is tackle, touch, or flag, is still not clear. Conferences like the Dual County League are making decisions for themselves of how much they want to practice and allow coaching outside of the season.

Everyone is on their own island for now while the MIAA continues to work out what’s best for everyone within the guidelines from the state.

It’s a tough ask to continue being patient for everyone, though.

“At the end of the day, it was either we work within the guidelines and collaborate with the state on the government level and Department of Health, or no one plays,” said Bennett. “It’s either you work it out or you don’t. That was not the desired outcome for everyone, and as heartbreaking as it is, it is still exciting to see student athletes on the field.”