AUGUSTA  — The state recommended Tuesday that the Maine Principals’ Association further delay the start of a fall sports season, and also updated its community sports guidelines that could jeopardize the high school football and volleyball seasons.

The recommendations came five days after the MPA voted to push ahead with all fall sports, including contact sports like football and soccer. The state indicated Tuesday that soccer could be played this fall provided safety guidelines were followed.

However, concerns were raised with football and volleyball played indoors.

“We would like to know, at your earliest convenience, if the MPA plans on modifying its guidance and, if so, how? Additionally, given that it is September 1, we urge you to consider extending your delayed start date for fall sports as many other interscholastic sports bodies in other states have done to allow for sufficient time to resolve the concerns expressed in this letter and to allow for appropriate time for implementation,” the Departments of Health and Human Services and Education wrote in a letter to the MPA.

The state also addressed community sports guidelines issues with the MPA, stating the following: “The MPA Guidance does not include any modifications to the types of play for sports based on risk. Under the MPA Guidance, student athletes in even the highest risk sports can compete as they did preCOVID, including within-team competition, between local teams, between teams statewide regardless of the color classification of counties in the School Health Advisory System, and between teams from out of state including states that are not exempt from Maine’s requirement for quarantine or testing. The Community Sports Guidance document does not permit competitions outside of scrimmages within the team for high-risk sports. The combination of travel and close contact in certain sports increases the risk of accelerating coronavirus spread. This is why colleges and universities in New England have largely cancelled intercollegiate athletic competition this fall.”

The MPA’s 12-member Interscholastic Management Committee unanimously voted Aug. 27 to allow all sports – including contact sports such as soccer and football – to be played this fall. The vote followed the recommendation of the group’s Sports Medicine Committee.

However, the state then decided to review the MPA’s fall sports guidelines to ensure they met COVID-19 safety guidelines. That unexpected decision came less than two weeks after a Department of Education spokesperson said  “any decision about interscholastic sports will be made by the MPA.”

The MPA previously announced official team practices can start Sept. 8, with games beginning no sooner than Sept. 18. The first football games would be Sept. 25.

A few districts have already decided on fall sports, while most are taking a wait-and-see approach.

The Orono and Gardiner school boards have voted to move forward with fall sports. Camden Hills, meanwhile, has already opted out.

The Winslow school board met Monday night, but athletic director Jim Bourgoin said no vote on high school sports was taken.

“They don’t really know what they are voting on,” he said. “We will have an emergency meeting within 48 hours after a decision is made.”

This story will be updated.

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