The day had finally arrived for some high school fall sports teams to begin their delayed seasons, then a yellow designation for Oxford County by the Maine Department of Education put a halt to athletics in that county’s schools, as well as the opponents they were scheduled to face Friday.

According to guidelines created by the state in July, “Categorization as ‘yellow’ suggests that the county has an elevated risk of COVID-19 spread and that hybrid models of instruction should be adopted.”

In terms of high school athletics, the Maine Principals’ Association said in an email sent to member schools, “Should a county be designated yellow or red, there should be no practices or games held until which time they are designated green.”

The designations are updated every two weeks, meaning Oxford County teams are likely shut out until at least Oct. 9.

That created a bit of a mess Friday, leaving the athletic directors of the impacted schools — in both Oxford and surrounding counties — scrambling to announce postponements and cancellations, as well as their adjust upcoming schedules.

Affected high schools in Oxford County include Oxford Hills, Buckfield, Dirigo, Mountain Valley, Telstar, Sacopee Valley and Fryeburg Academy. Mountain Valley had already switched to remote learning and shut down its sports seasons through at least Oct. 13 prior to the designation. Telstar, meanwhile, had already scheduled a meeting Monday to re-evaluate whether to proceed with fall sports after the recent increase in COVID cases throughout the county.

Leavitt Area High School’s sports programs were put on hold for a week earlier this week due to four confirmed COVID-19 cases at three schools in Turner.

Earlier this month the MPA and Gov. Mills administration announced that soccer, field hockey, golf and cross country could be played interscholastically this fall. Mt. Blue opted out of competing against other teams, while Spruce Mountain and Rangeley decided only to participate in golf and cross country.

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