Coronavirus: MA School Sports Start Pushed To May 4

HINGHAM, MA — The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Directors approved a proposed schedule for high school spring sports should schools reopen on May 4. Schools across the state are closed until at least that day due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In an effort to provide a framework for a truncated season, and provide some hope for senior athletes looking at the end of their high school athletic careers, the MIAA Board of Directors on Monday gave unanimous agreement to a structure where spring practices begin no earlier than May 4 and the season ends as late as June 27 (with a rain date of June 28).

The MIAA also approved an exemption allowing physicals that were valid as of March 13 to count toward an athlete's eligibility through the end of the spring season, allowing schools to determine their own academic eligibility for the abbreviated spring season and reducing the amount of practice days before for the first official spring contest to seven days (from 11).

Under the latest proposal, teams would likely begin games on May 11 and would play between eight and 12 games, before a potential state tournament. All guidelines are predicated on no further extensions of statewide school closures.

This is the second adjustment the MIAA has made to the spring schedule since the winter season state championship games in hockey and basketball had to be canceled due to growing coronovirus concerns. The season was originally moved forward two weeks to March 30, then pushed ahead to April 27 when the statewide school closure was instituted through April 7.

Athletic directors in the Bay State Conference, Patriot League and South Shore League, among others, have met via conference calls and have pledged to be open any type of a sports season — no matter how short the window — in an effort to provide seniors with one last high school athletic experience.

"We have no cutoff date where we would not consider something right up until the end of the school year," Hingham athletic director Jim Quatromoni told Patch on March 20. "I've asked my
coaches to be prepared for the smallest available window, even if that is a short league schedule with no tournament, or even a weekend tournament, as long as it gives seniors a chance to enjoy that experience."

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Related Patch Coverage: Coronavirus: MA School Athletics Adjust To Shock Of New Reality

Coronavirus: MA School Spring Sports Start Pushed To April 27

Coronavirus: MA Cancels State Basketball, Hockey Championships

Scott Souza can be reached at scott.souza@patch.com and can be found on Twitter @Scott_Souza.

This article originally appeared on the Hingham Patch