Michigan High School Fall Tournaments and Winter Sports Suspended

The MHSAA announced that all Fall and Winter sports would be suspended for three weeks, matching the order from Michigan health officials.

The order was given Sunday evening, and called for a three week pause to help contain the Coronavirus pandemic. Michigan had done a great job reducing the spread of the virus until some of Gov. Whitmer's orders were lifted. Shortly after that decision was made, the cases in Michigan started to rise, matching the cases in the rest of the Country.

The details of the three week pause were tweeted out by the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services. after the press conference.

There was an almost immediate follow up from the MHSAA after it was announced that High Schools would be going to remote learning.

They responded in agreement with the order, and postponed all Fall and Winter sports.

The statement from the MHSAA doesn't really give a clear cut picture as to what will happen with the fall tournaments that were in progress.

We understand the need for action, and we will explore all options to complete our Fall tournaments when restrictions are lifted. We will assess everything over the next three weeks relative to Fall and Winter sports and come up with a plan that keeps us connected to our goal, for months, of having three seasons that are played to their conclusions

The pause comes at a tough time for High School Football teams that just played in their district finals. The teams that won were hoping to advance in the tournament, with obvious hopes of playing for a state championship. I don't know how that can happen now.

With the late start, the fall tournaments and start of winter sports were already going to be tough for any multi-sport students. Now with the delay, there is no real way that the MHSAA will be able to finish the fall tournaments and start winter sports. I think it will have to be one or the other. There is no solution that is fair or good for everyone, but I do appreciate the fact that the safety of the players and community is the primary factor in the decision.