How high school girls soccer coaches prefer scheduling for 2020 season to go

When Gov. Bill Lee extended the COVID-19 state of emergency order until Aug. 29, all contact sports were limited from practicing. While the biggest high school sport affected is football, girls soccer is, too.

On Wednesday, the TSSAA Board of Control is meeting via teleconference to decide how to progress with the contact sports in the 2020 season.

The USA TODAY Network surveyed girls soccer coaches across the state to see when they wanted the 2020 season to begin and received 42 responses.

The vast majority of coaches (30 votes) want to start the season in September, extend the season a couple of weeks and play a complete postseason.

“It was disappointing to see spring sports lose their seasons and the hurt it caused those athletes and coaches," Stewarts Creek coach Jeff Marlow said. "I'm still hopeful for some good news Wednesday and letting these kids get back to some normalcy and do what they love. I'm sure most parents would sign waivers and assume the risk to start on time this August.”

Only 10 coaches went with Option 2, which was to start the season in September and continue with the postseason at its normal time.

Two coaches who were surveyed did not believe a girls soccer season this fall was possible.

As for scheduling, Option 1 is the easier choice as coaches wouldn't have to figure out what games to cut – just how they want to move the schedule.

"From a scheduling standpoint, I think it would be fairly easy to just roll our existing schedules back a month, pushing postseason into November," Alcoa coach Shane Corley said. "It is time consuming to put a schedule together in the first place, and trying to revamp and deciding what games to drop and then rescheduling for a shorter season would be tough. We will have enough to do with changes to school schedules."

And some coaches are even fine with holding games without fans to get the season started on time.

"We have been meeting/conditioning as a team since early June," Greenback coach Robert Fox said. "We have taken precautions as directed by TSSAA. I don’t see how moving to scrimmages and then games will cause any negative impact on curbing COVID-19. I support limiting fans to games, but for girls soccer in Single A, that is generally not a big concern. The team rosters are small. The fan bases are small."

On the opposite end, there is the thought of not holding district tournaments to allow for more regular-season games. The thought would be to send just the top two teams from each district to the postseason.

“I do not think there should be (a) district tournament," Springfield coach AnnMarie Turpen said. "This would allow for more regular-season games and shorten the too long playoffs. Springfield and Greenbrier are in a district where it is difficult to compete and finish above fifth place, so when the district tournament rolls around, we have to play a team from our district that has already beaten us by five or more goals.”

But for teams with high-level players, there is a worry about extending the postseason and having that conflict with travel ball season. For that reason, some coaches chose Option 2.

“We have many players that are scheduled to start their East Coast National League (ECNL) games in November," Franklin coach Michael Burgoyne said. "Extending the postseason would interfere with their club schedule, which is very important in their college recruitment. I am cautiously optimistic that the student-athletes will get a season, I’m just unsure what the threshold for making the decision is.”

There is also the question of the safety of even having a season until there is a grasp on COVID-19 and how to prevent it.

“Our greatest responsibility is the safety of our players," La Vergne coach Jamie Shields said. "As the virus is expanding and is at all-time highs, I do not see a way to practice safely. In the best case, coaches can keep 6 feet (of) distance at practice. The truth hides with players (half of which are under 16) that pile into carpools and gather together afterwards as mandates are not statewide. We are responsible for keeping students safe. Playing contact sports during a global pandemic runs counter to that idea.”

Coaches also are concerned about getting enough time to get their teams in shape before starting games to prevent injuries.

"I have 25 young ladies on my team, and that means at least 25 parents that trust me to keep their daughter safe while participating in high school soccer," Creek Wood coach Kate Siddall said. "Being safe has nothing to do with the COVID-19 but with the physicality that comes with playing soccer. My collegiate career ended suddenly due to an injury, and I wouldn’t wish that kind of physical, emotional and mental hurt on any of my girls. This is a very difficult decision for anyone to make because you won’t please everyone. But not allowing contact practices until August 29 and starting competitive play September 17 (or whatever it will be), is not enough time to set up teams up for success."

Reach Michael Odom at michodom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754. Follow him on Twitter @JSWriterMichael.