TSSAA ED says fate of high school football unknown as of now

[osunut2]

1 hour ago, strongx said:

So...I’m hearing more about hybrid school in the fall. Half the students go half the week and the other half is online. The intent is distancing and minimizing potential spread. How do sports (especially football) fit into such a plan? 

Knox County stated last week that they will choose one of three proposed plans - 1) normal in-person instruction, 2) the hybrid approach that you mentioned, with part-time classroom instruction supplemented by a remote learning, and 3) full-time remote learning, led by KCS teachers, using the electronic devices provided through KCS's 1:1 initiative.

[cbg]

5 hours ago, osunut2 said:

Knox County stated last week that they will choose one of three proposed plans - 1) normal in-person instruction, 2) the hybrid approach that you mentioned, with part-time classroom instruction supplemented by a remote learning, and 3) full-time remote learning, led by KCS teachers, using the electronic devices provided through KCS's 1:1 initiative.

How would these plans affect high school football in Knox County?

 

[MichaelMyers76]

On ‎6‎/‎1‎/‎2020 at 8:46 PM, tradertwo said:

Schools (some) are already determining their own guidelines. Trenton Peabody, Union City, and Milan have been practicing for weeks already, and because TSSAA deferred the authority to "local policy", they're completely justified in doing so. Other local schools however, cannot conduct any team sports related activities, and would face penalties if they did so. TSSAA has an obligation to it's member schools to coordinate sports related activities (Article1 - Section 3), and has blatantly refused to do so for fear of liability.

   Consider the school closing date, consult Dept. of Health, Set the parameters (dead period/helmet/full pads/ect…), set the season, and THEN the schools have the choice whether or not to allow practice with some idea of what everyone else is able/not able to do. Member schools pay a fee to TSSAA for just such a service, not to disappear when nobody knows what to do.

All of those rules you mention are already in place. Have been for years. TSSAA is running on their regular calendar this summer dead period and all. Local school systems are the ones not allowing it. How many times do you need to hear it to understand. Other school systems are doing exactly what has always been allowed. If the TSSAA  waits on people like Mayor Cooper to let them play it  will be 2027 before we see football again. They set parameters. You are just  mad your area doesn't want to let them play.

[sportsguy22]

40 minutes ago, MichaelMyers76 said:

All of those rules you mention are already in place. Have been for years. TSSAA is running on their regular calendar this summer dead period and all. Local school systems are the ones not allowing it. How many times do you need to hear it to understand. Other school systems are doing exactly what has always been allowed. If the TSSAA  waits on people like Mayor Cooper to let them play it  will be 2027 before we see football again. They set parameters. You are just  mad your area doesn't want to let them play.

Agree. The school systems are solely responsible for the discrepancies. If their schools are at a disadvantage, then so be it! They may want to get with the program and quit living in fear or panic. I don’t feel sorry one bit for them. Their leadership needs to lead! Maybe they will feel pressure from within to let go of the fear and move on with life (safely and smartly of course). The TSSAA, as opposed to most other issues, has not messed this up...at least not yet! Let’s all cross our fingers.

[tradertwo]

2 hours ago, MichaelMyers76 said:

All of those rules you mention are already in place. Have been for years. TSSAA is running on their regular calendar this summer dead period and all. Local school systems are the ones not allowing it. How many times do you need to hear it to understand. Other school systems are doing exactly what has always been allowed. If the TSSAA  waits on people like Mayor Cooper to let them play it  will be 2027 before we see football again. They set parameters. You are just  mad your area doesn't want to let them play.

That's a well thought out rebuttal, and you'd really have me on the spot save one minor detail... you're wrong. TSSAA's official statement;

"TSSAA does not regulate the scheduling of regular season games or practices. However, consistent with the Governor's statement, and in the interest of the safety of competitors, coaches, officials, and spectators, we urge every member school- both public and independent- to follow the Governor's recommendation and suspend interscholastic athletics through March 31, 2020. This suspension should include games, scrimmages, practices, and organized workouts or conditioning.

We will continue to follow developments related to this public health concern as they evolve and send out additional notices of any further actions or recommendations related to interscholastic athletics."

At some point past the 3/31/2020 deadline (but not immediately), they issued the directive that athletic programs follow their local authorities' guidelines for social distancing and gatherings.

Now, here's the official TSSAA Mission Statement;

"The mission of the TSSAA is to serve its members by providing leadership and coordination for the administration of interscholastic athletics, which will enhance the educational experiences of students."

Following local guidelines is neither coordinating nor providing leadership, and per the above official statement, TSSAA has definitely NOT been "running on their regular calendar this summer".

   I only needed to research this one time to understand, and not that it's important, but "my area" didn't keep my school from playing. How thoroughly do you need it explained before you'll understand?

 

[tradertwo]

1 hour ago, sportsguy22 said:

Agree. The school systems are solely responsible for the discrepancies. If their schools are at a disadvantage, then so be it! They may want to get with the program and quit living in fear or panic. I don’t feel sorry one bit for them. Their leadership needs to lead! Maybe they will feel pressure from within to let go of the fear and move on with life (safely and smartly of course). The TSSAA, as opposed to most other issues, has not messed this up...at least not yet! Let’s all cross our fingers.

Ditto to you too.

[sportsguy22]

14 minutes ago, tradertwo said:

Ditto to you too.

Are you saying that Metro and Montgomery County school systems can’t come out at any point and end their bans on practices/team gatherings?? Otherwise, what is actually happening in those places? 

[strongx]

9 hours ago, Solomon said:

Pet the email sent out yesterday, Maryville City School is planning full time in person meeting beginning July 30th.

 

8 hours ago, osunut2 said:

Knox County stated last week that they will choose one of three proposed plans - 1) normal in-person instruction, 2) the hybrid approach that you mentioned, with part-time classroom instruction supplemented by a remote learning, and 3) full-time remote learning, led by KCS teachers, using the electronic devices provided through KCS's 1:1 initiative.

You would assume everybody doing something similar, at least in Knox. I was also told students in murvil would have an option of staying home. I assume alco will follow suit. #turfandjumbotron

Will kids in those systems have the options to stay home and still play? Dang, I was born 35 yrs too early! Lol

[osunut2]

6 hours ago, cbg said:

How would these plans affect high school football in Knox County?

 

I have no idea how you could allow football to be played in Knox County if you don't select option #1. 

[tradertwo]

2 hours ago, sportsguy22 said:

Are you saying that Metro and Montgomery County school systems can’t come out at any point and end their bans on practices/team gatherings?? Otherwise, what is actually happening in those places? 

I'm not concerned with what singular systems choose to do, or not to do. My concern is that the organization that charges a membership fee for leadership and coordination deferred any and all authority to local governments/municipalities, allowing some to legally practice, while others were not. TSSAA has always set the limits of what could be done, not mandated what must be done... any and every school has always had the option to do less, but has always had the opportunity to do as much as anyone/everyone else. In this instance, that has not been the case. That is my point in a nutshell, and for your own example, Metro and/or Montgomery County can't come out at any point and end their ban on team related activities unless their local authorities end their restrictions on public gatherings (if that's why they're not practicing in the first place). Any school can choose not to play, practice, or even have a team if they wish, just as always... as it was, some could make their own choice to practice, and some could not.

[TryNotToSuck]

Right now, we're 74 days til kickoff of the 2020 High School football season, which is slated for August 21.

I went out of town this past weekend to watch a travel ball (baseball) tournament. I talked to a few people from Illinois and Kentucky respectively. The people from Illinois are saying that they still cannot go eat at restaurants. In addition workouts are going on, but they're strict with the workouts to the point where it's somewhat pointless to do the workouts. The people that I've talked to from Kentucky are saying that their travel ball facilities are closed til mid-July. Personally, I do believe this is based on more political involvement (remember, we are in an election year), then health recommendations.

However, I agree with college football where it's going to take at least 6 weeks for all schools to come back and practice where all football players can get acclimated to the heat. The last thing the TSSAA can do is have teams coming back and have 3 weeks to prepare (because that's when the school districts will let them come back) and be rushed. Then, we're going to have student athletes passing out on workouts, because coaches are rushing trying to play catch-up with everyone else.

So, six weeks til August 21st will be  July 10. If there's plenty of schools that aren't allowed to participate on field activities, then the TSSAA should delay the season, and have kickoff pushed back til October 2 (playoffs begin in January/February). 

I believe the TSSAA has a month to decide on what they're going to do. But I do believe that every school should have a chance to win a state tournament. That's my opinion

[sportsguy22]

9 hours ago, tradertwo said:

I'm not concerned with what singular systems choose to do, or not to do. My concern is that the organization that charges a membership fee for leadership and coordination deferred any and all authority to local governments/municipalities, allowing some to legally practice, while others were not. TSSAA has always set the limits of what could be done, not mandated what must be done... any and every school has always had the option to do less, but has always had the opportunity to do as much as anyone/everyone else. In this instance, that has not been the case. That is my point in a nutshell, and for your own example, Metro and/or Montgomery County can't come out at any point and end their ban on team related activities unless their local authorities end their restrictions on public gatherings (if that's why they're not practicing in the first place). Any school can choose not to play, practice, or even have a team if they wish, just as always... as it was, some could make their own choice to practice, and some could not.

Let’s be honest, something we all should agree on, the TSSAA is lacking in just about every way and their leadership is horrible. Its Board of Control always stays status quo and rarely has any vision into the future. It’s just a poorly run operation with bad leadership all around. No need to even list all the examples of this, just within the last year or two. As for this issue, I guess I’m confused who’s in control and who’s not. Similar to this whole shutdown and reopening, the whole thing has gotten so political and chaotic as a result. Who knows what to believe any longer? It’s time for everyone to get on the same page, though, and get rid of the fear and panic! It’s time to be smart, safe, and live life again. Just like the flu and any number of infectious diseases, we have to deal with it while continuing to go through life.