MISSOURI, USA — On Wednesday, the Missouri State High School Activities Association announced a significant development when it comes to high school sports during the COVID-19 pandemic.

MSHSAA announced it was granting relief of two by-laws and a board policy, among these, allowing schools not meeting in-person to participate MSHSAA activities for the 2020-21 school year.

That means schools that begin or transition to virtual instruction this school year will still be allowed to compete in person in athletic events. The final decision will be left to individual school districts whether they choose to compete or not.

“The Board granted relief of the MSHSAA Constitution which provides a MSHSAA Member School the ability to participate in activities if the school begins the school year or transitions to entirely virtual instruction, provided they are following all health department requirements and phases, if applicable. After a long discussion, the Board determined this should be a local school decision. Upon the approval of the Board, a member school may now determine if its teams will participate in MSHSAA activities while its students are receiving virtual instruction only, while following all requirements and guidelines set forth by their health department officials. Students must meet all requirements of the local school, with the local school having the ability to always be more restrictive. It is a local school decision on what criteria it puts in place in order to earn the privilege to represent the school in interscholastic competition. MSHSAA Member Schools may always be more restrictive than the minimum requirements of the MSHSAA By-Laws put in place by the member schools; however, they cannot be less restrictive,” the statement read in part.

There are multiple school districts in the St. Louis area who have opted to start virtually in 2020.

You can read the full release from the MSHSAA board meeting by clicking here.