COVID in command: Start of Kentucky’s high school football playoffs delayed one week
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association announced Saturday morning that it will push back the scheduled start of its football playoffs by one week to allow school districts more time to prepare and assess how their teams will move forward with postseason play during the pandemic.
Originally scheduled to begin Friday, the first round of the playoffs will now take place the weekend of Nov. 19-21.
“It goes without saying that we are in the midst of issues within our state and the current status of the pandemic. I have stated all along that decisions made by our office, at any point in time, would be done so in the best interest of student-athletes. While it may be a calculated strategic decision that in time, we feel was not the best path, we have to make decisions based on today’s information because tomorrow is so unknown,” said KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett. “This decision isn’t just about the few ongoing quarantines, it’s about 82 counties Friday being defined as “red” including the vast majority of the east. It’s about giving our schools time to deal with the issues around athletics which are not identical to the issues around the school day and as such, may need separate local discussions.”
Kentucky, like much of the rest of the nation, has seen dramatic increases in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. While there is no state-ordered shutdown of high school sports as happened with the boys’ and girls’ state basketball tournaments and spring sports earlier this year, there are state recommendations against playing based on the spread of COVID-19 as indicated on the state’s color-coded incidence rate map.
Many school systems have opted to follow those recommendations and not let their teams play if state data shows their community to be in a “critical” or “red” status. That meant the just-completed final week of the regular season saw cancellations of as much as two-thirds of its originally scheduled games over COVID-19 concerns.
The KHSAA’s postponement of the playoffs allows teams who are or were in quarantine due to COVID-19 cases or contacts within their program — teams like Scott County, Tates Creek and Pulaski County — time to exit isolation and hold practice if they choose to move forward. Tates Creek has not yet made that determination.
The delay will also allow more time for school systems to “review site strategies, seating capacities, and all other facets of the likely contest(s) during this interim period and certainly remind students that what they do outside of practice and the game field can have a tremendous impact on themselves and those around them. It is highly advised that all levels of school administration be in on hosting decisions and use this interim time to play out various “what if” scenarios based on hopefully changing data,” the KHSAA release said.
Kroger Field is the scheduled host of the KHSAA’s six state championship football games, but Fayette County’s “red” status makes that site uncertain. The KHSAA has moved state finals from their original sites in both cross country and volleyball in the last two weeks because those original sites were in “red” counties. The KHSAA made those announcements about a week out from each event. The state football championships are now scheduled to begin Dec. 11.
