LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan High School Athletic Association announced Friday that the fall high school football season is being postponed amid concerns about the spread of COVID-19.
The athletic association said the fall season will be pushed back to Spring 2021.
This follows recent moves from college football conferences, like the Big Ten, which have also postponed their seasons. Football is considered a high risk sport for the spread of the virus, because of its level of player-to-player contact, a press release said.
“At the end of the day, we did everything we could to find a path forward for football this fall,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “But while continuing to connect with the Governor’s office, state health department officials, our member schools’ personnel and the Council, there is just too much uncertainty and too many unknowns to play football this fall.
There are over 34,000 Michigan student athletes who played football in 2019. The MHSAA planned to move forward with a normal sports schedule, and high school workouts started this week.
“No one is willing to take the risk of COVID being passed on because of a high-risk sport. Decisions have to be made on our other sports as well, but none of those carry the same close, consistent, and face-to-face contact as football," said Uyl.
After the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences postponed their seasons, high school coaches in West Michigan expressed concern about high school football being next.
The state athletic association said volleyball and soccer, two other fall sports, are considered moderate-risk for the spread of the virus. Cross country, golf, tennis and swimming & diving are considered low-risk.
Details for the spring football season with a specific schedule and format will be announced in coming months, MHSAA said. The association said it will try to limit the overlap of football and traditional spring sports, which was a concern among multi-sport athletes.
“While this is tremendously disappointing, we will do everything possible to provide the best possible experience in the spring while adding football into the calendar,” Uyl said.
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