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While hurdles still need to be cleared, there is hope that the sports of field hockey, golf and cross country will be played at the high school level in Franklin County this fall after athletic directors in the area voted to move forward with those sports at a Wednesday meeting.
Some districts still need school committee approval to participate, though the hope is that if all goes according to plan, preseason practices would begin on Sept. 18 and games would follow around Oct. 1.
“The fact we are getting the opportunity to play, as long as everything pans out the way it’s supposed to, I am really thrilled for the kids to be able to get out and play what they love,” Greenfield High School field hockey coach Erin Thayer said. “I want things to go smoothly so it can set the tone for the rest of the year for all the kids and all the sports. If we can have successful seasons, I think it will go a long way in making sure other sports and seasons can happen. We just want to get our kids back playing. It’s important for so many things.”
Frontier Regional School field hockey coach Missy Mahar said that she’s heard from her players throughout the summer in anticipation of a fall season.
“There’s been a lot of uncertainty but I think these kids are resilient,” Mahar said. “They’ve been through so much from March until now, I think they’re ready for whatever is thrown at them. Hopefully this is going to pan out and work out for everyone and they’ll get their chance to play.”
When the MIAA releases its sport-specific modifications next week, field hockey is expected to see the biggest changes of the three fall sports. Thayer said that while things will look differently than normal on and off the field, she thinks Franklin County programs will be able to navigate those waters in the months ahead.
“As long as everyone is careful and follows those guidelines the way they need to be followed, I don’t see it being a huge issue,” she explained.
With the chance to potentially play high school games in the not-so-distant future, Mahar said the players in her program are ready to get rolling.
“I think the fact that Franklin County ADs have begun to possibly move forward in this process has given hope and some positivity with the girls involved,” she said. “Spring came and everything was canceled. Now that there’s an opportunity, that at least gives them hope. They all missed that sense of belonging to something, so I think it’s exciting to think about getting back out there.”
The MIAA’s Tournament Management Committee (TMC) met Thursday morning to discuss a few topics. While postseason tournaments were already canceled for the upcoming fall season, the committee decided to wait to make decisions on the rest of the seasons.
MIAA Associate Director Sherry Bryant said that the TMC will review the possibility of winter tournaments once the EEA comes out with its new guidelines, but did note that there was space in the calendar for potential postseasons.
The TMC also unanimously voted to push announcing fall and winter alignments for the 2021-22 school year until at least Oct. 1. They had previously been scheduled for release on Sept. 1.
As each individual district throughout the state decides whether to move forward with a potential fall sports season, some have already made the decision to opt out. The Pittsfield School Committee, which incorporates Pittsfield High School and Taconic High School, voted Wednesday to “postpone all interscholastic athletic activities in the Pittsfield Public Schools through Nov. 30, 2020, with the hope for a three-season ‘float,’ with determination of interscholastic athletic activities subsequent to Nov. 30 to be made by the school committee.”
So, according to the Berkshire Eagle, fall sports are off the table at Pittsfield High and Taconic. When athletes do resume, it will be with winter sports.
Pittsfield AD Jim Abel noted during Wednesday’s meeting that, like Franklin County, the Berkshire County ADs had formed a joint resolution for fall sports, voting and deciding to move forward with golf and cross-country in the traditional fall season (No Berkshire County schools have field hockey). The rest of the fall sports would be moved to the “fall II” season created by the MIAA, set to run from February through April. Abel did note that that proposal from Berkshire ADs was voted down by principals in the County, and the status of athletics for the rest of the schools there is up in the air.
Scott Dredge knows the importance of sports, as well as other extracurricular activities, for the development of high school students. The Frontier Regional School assistant principal and head football coach is a proponent of his school having some sort of practice routine for the sports that aren’t allowed to play games this fall. Simply put, he wants football players to have a chance to do what they like to do: play football.
“We want to give kids the opportunity to be together and focus on football,” he explained. “We’ll practice all those safety guidelines. Above all else, the social, emotional well-being of our youngsters … that’s very important to me.”
Part of that social and emotional development comes from meeting together in person. While there will be plenty of remote learning this fall in Franklin County schools, Dredge said that importance of in-person discussion and guidance can’t be understated.
“If we’re allowed to have some form of practice time, it’ll be productive,” Dredge began. “We would have goals in mind beyond just conditioning because that gets old quickly. There’d be purpose and meaning. It would give me and my staff the opportunity to get to know each other, to have a chance to work with these kids and have productive conversations about character. We can spread out together in person and talk about things going on in the world, not just football.”
Having the opportunity to still participate in sport is an important step in helping students readjust to the new normal, according to Dredge.
“Kids who play sports, that’s a big reason why they want to go to school,” Dredge said. “Let’s face it, that’s the motivator. Kids who participate in the band, other after-school activities, that’s their passion. That’s a big part of their day. So we certainly want to be able to offer those options, to the best of our ability as a school, and keep some sort of normalcy alive in their days.”
Athol High School has an interesting path forward. The school committee isn’t scheduled to meet again until Sept. 16, though with the first day of potential fall sports practices set for Sept. 18, that would be a quick turnaround if committee approval doesn’t come until then.
Perhaps more pressing is the fact that of the three sports approved by Franklin County ADs earlier this week, Athol sponsors just one of them – field hockey. The school doesn’t have a golf or cross country program.
“I think we’d have to think outside the box a bit,” Athol AD Dan Bevis said. “Whatever that might be, whether it’s an intramural-looking thing, trying to get kids to learn to play golf … we’ve had internal discussions. It’s about the social and emotional well-being of the student, and we’re going to do our best to offer them whatever we can.”
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