NORTHAMPTON – Smith Vocational is moving forward with fall sports, though athletics at many other school districts remain unknown.

The Northampton school was among the first to declare its intention following the release of the MIAA’s revised athletic calendar for the 2020-2021 year.

“It’s a waiting game now,” Smith Vocational Athletic Director Jeff Lareau said.

Smith Vocational will offer boys and girls soccer, girls volleyball and cross country pending further instruction from the MIAA.

“It’s pretty much up to the sport committees if they are going to change the rules and regulations,” Lareau said.

All sports with the exception of football can start Sept. 18. The MIAA moved football to a season that will be held between the end of the winter and start of spring. This ‘floating’ season can also be used by schools that cannot offer or opt out of sports this fall.

The MIAA is allowing high-risk sports to practice this fall but only under certain conditions and regulations. All sports must follow the youth and amateur guidelines released last week by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA).

MIAA sport committees will work with the Sports Medicine Committee to arrive at guidelines that meet EEA requirements by Aug. 25. The COVID-19 Task Force will review those guidelines by Aug. 27 and MIAA President Jeff Granatino and Executive Director Bill Gaine will grant final approval by Sept. 1.

Smith Vocational will have football practice this fall.

“We will move forward with some kind of strength and condition, and strategizing,” Lareau said. “It may only be 2-3 days a week.”

Smith Vocational was able to make a decision due to it starting the year in a hybrid learning model. Lareau said athletes will have an opportunity to stay at school and take their remote classes with him in the cafeteria.

“We’re trying to keep everything safe and healthy for the kids and keep them in one environment,” he said.

Schools that are starting the year remotely will have their sport eligibility determined by its color-coded designation by the Department of Public Health.

According to the MIAA plan, “districts designated as ‘red’ … and which therefore have their high school students learning remotely at the start of a season, must postpone their entire season, including practices, until the floating season later in the year.

“Districts designated as yellow, green, or unshaded based on the DPH metric that nonetheless have their high school students learning remotely at the start of a season may similarly delay their season to the floating season. If a yellow, green, or unshaded district that is only offering remote learning to its high school students wishes to participate in the regularly scheduled sports season, this must be approved by the local school committee.”

The maps are fluid. In the Sept. 26-Aug. 8 DPH map, Holyoke and Granby were designated red. South Hadley was yellow. In the Aug. 2-Aug. 18 map, Holyoke is yellow, Granby is white and South Hadley is red.

South Hadley is scheduled to begin the school year remotely for 45 days. Athletic Director Eric Castonguay said he will present an athletic plan to the School Committee when it meets on Aug. 31.

Adding to the challenge of preparing for a season is when a district’s color is determined. The MIAA said it “could determine a school’s color-coded designation/eligibility on September 1 to determine initial eligibility and check again on October 1 to determine if the school remains eligible to participate in the fall season.”

Added Castonguay, “the red thing threw us for a loop. We’re hoping next Wednesday it changes.”

When Granby was red, the Board of Health put a ban on all sporting activities during an emergency meeting last week, according to Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Alison Jordan-Gagner. The Board of Health will meet next Tuesday and Jordan-Gagner said she is hopeful sports can be on the agenda.

Holyoke, meanwhile, is starting remotely. Athletic Director Melanie Martin said she is meeting with school officials to discuss the viability of an athletic season.

“I’m hoping within the next week we’ll have more information,” Martin said.

Other schools are waiting to hear whether they can proceed with fall athletics.

Hampshire Regional Athletic Director John Plourd said the next school committee meeting is Monday. Hampshire is starting in a hybrid model.

“Without the logistics, it’s difficult to make decisions,” he said. “We’re going to work with whatever we can. The No. 1 priority is safety.”

Northampton is going remote for the fall. The school committee is expected to discuss fall sports on Sept. 10.

Smith Academy Athletic Director Allison Slysz is meeting with school officials on Friday. The next committee meeting is Tuesday.

Gateway Regional AD Matt Bonenfant said he is meeting with school officials in advance of Wednesday’s school committee meeting.

“The dominoes are going to fall slowly, but Sept. 18 is coming up,” he said. “We need to have a plan in place.”

Frontier Regional AD Carl Cyr said he was meeting with his school officials on Thursday to determine the next step.

Belchertown Athletic Director Jennifer Gouvin said she will be meeting with school officials to discuss the school’s next move. The high school is starting remotely.

The next steps for Amherst Regional (remote), Easthampton (remote) and Hopkins Academy (remote) are not known at this time.

Mike Moran can be reached at mmoran@gazettenet.com. Follow on Twitter @mikemoranDHG.