You can count the South Central District Athletic Association — which encompasses Moose Jaw and surrounding communities — in that group looking to solve all sorts of riddles in the next little while.
The Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association has helped get things going in that direction with their recent directive that fall school sports will be significantly delayed, starting at the end of September at the earliest, with most not even seeing the field or court until mid-October.
But what version those sports — cross country, soccer, football and volleyball — will take in Prairie South, and if they’ll happen at all, is still very, very much up in the air. Meetings next week and beyond will get things moving along, but what those discussions will determine is anyone’s guess according to SCDAA commissioner Leigh Pethick.
“We’re going to be meeting soon to look at the SHSAA guidelines and see what kind of decisions we make,” he said. “I don’t really want to say anything until we get back to work, but it’s six of one and half dozen of the other. You’re going to upset people either way, you’d like to see these kids have these opportunities, but you have to think about safety first, so….”
Of course, the first priority is getting back in class and simply seeing how that’s all going to work. In that case, sports is so far on the back burner as to almost not even be part of the meal. But the time will come when things will be somewhat set in stone. And when the sports question is answered, how that’s going to look is anybody’s guess — in-city mini-leagues have been floated by the SHSAA, but how that would affect rural teams that rely on travel into larger communities to play is something that will need to be solved. Then there’s the question of fans being allowed to watch games, especially indoors. And what happens in the case of an outbreak? Is everything shut down or just certain games?
Then there’s the biggest question of all — do you go ahead at all, or do you follow the lead of Saskatoon and just cancel everything outright?
No answers for now, and all those questions are only part of what meetings next week will try and solve.
“Prairie South wants to do whatever they can for the health and safety of our staff and students, and if they need to ere on the side of caution, I think that’s smart,” Pethick said. “But athletics is an important part, it gives students something else to do other than schoolwork, it gets them exercise and gets them outside. It’s important, and if we can we will, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
