Scoring Points: With football pushed back, what happens to basketball?

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Scoring Points, meeting, sports setbacks, basketball, fake fans

As of now, according to the Georgia High School Association and the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, basketball and all other fall sports besides football are set to begin at their originally planned times.

The North Carolina and Georgia High School football seasons were both pushed back two weeks after both organizations decided it would be best to give the players and coaches more time to prepare for the upcoming season, since there will be new rules and regulations that the novel Coronavirus has caused. Both organizations have decided not to move any other start dates for other fall sports, which could cause some problems for local area small schools.

I remember going to school in North Carolina, if the football team went deep into the playoffs, then those kids on the football team had to miss out on the opening part of the basketball season. We were luck to field enough players to have a basketball team while football was still going on, seeing as how at small schools most athletes play more than one sport and there are not a lot of kids to choose from.

Now, with football being pushed back 2 weeks, it is not going to matter if your schools football team makes it deep into the playoffs or not, odds are your basketball players that are playing football are going to miss out on a good chunk of the start of basketball season.

I would assume that the NCHSAA and the GHSA will both fix this scheduling conflict eventually, it is just a problem that I wanted to bring to light. With small schools like Andrews and Hayesville, most of your best basketball players are going to be playing football and in turn will miss out on the beginning of basketball season, which will hurt the schools chance to compete in their basketball playoffs.

I would venture to say that the powers at be will fix this to the best of their abilities, I just thought it was an issue that should not be brushed under the rug.

 

 

 

Check out more of Jake West’s Scoring Points by reading last week’s article: Football for NC and GA pushed back. Also remember, in sports, points are scored by both sides, so send in your opinions on sports to [email protected] and see them in our next Sunday Edition.

Scoring Points: Football for NC and GA pushed back

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Scoring Points, meeting, sports setbacks, basketball, fake fans

The Georgia High School Association held a private meeting earlier today to discuss the upcoming fall football season start dates and schedules. The meeting was not broadcast publicly, but according to sources the competition date for football will be pushed back for two weeks, but the football conditioning and all other sports starting dates are unchanged.

The first football games will be held on labor day weekend, with scrimmages on August 21 and 28.

There will be a full regular season and a full playoff schedule as of right now.

Practice will begin next Monday, with pads starting August 1.

North Carolina has some of the same things, pushing back their start date 2 weeks to September 1, to allow players and coaches a chance to get a grip on things.

Personally, I think that this postponement of the season is probably going to end up being a good thing. With pro sports starting back up and everything, it will give the high schools something they can look at and model after, as long as those professional sports end up going over well.

I think that the postponement was inevitable, and I am just glad that they are planning on playing at this point in time. A year without sports would be detrimental to the community in-itself, much less the athletes that would be missing out on playing.

Luckily, all signs are pointing toward the fact that both Georgia and North Carolina will have some sort of fall sports season. If you would’ve asked me a month ago if I thought that we would be in a position to play at all I would have told you heck no, But, at this point, I’m at about an 80% certainty that will we see games played in the coming months.

Stay tuned to the FYN Sports page to find out the latest updates on the GHSA, NCHSAA, and TSSAA upcoming fall seasons.

 

 

Check out more of Jake West’s Scoring Points by reading last week’s article: Athletics in NCHSAA hands: Good or bad?. Also remember, in sports, points are scored by both sides, so send in your opinions on sports to [email protected] and see them in our next Sunday Edition.

Scoring Points: COVID causes more high school sports setbacks

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Scoring Points, meeting, sports setbacks, basketball, fake fans

If you have been keeping up with the regular “Scoring Points” Sunday Edition articles, you have probably seen where I have talked about how Iowa has resumed their summer baseball and softball seasons recently. As I am sure most had thought, they have seen some recent sports setbacks in their return. More than a handful of teams have already had to self quarantine after players had tested positive for COVID-19 during the first few weeks of the season.

Being that Iowa was the first state in the country to allow high school sports to resume and start playing games again, there is a lot riding on their seasons and how things work out. They are a metaphorical “lab rat” if you will, for the rest of the country to see if it is possible for even low contact sports such as baseball and softball to return.

Iowa has taken their sports setbacks in stride in my opinion, implementing a quarantine period for all players and coaches who were participants in the game where it was later discovered a student tested positive. Opponents on both the teams schedules were notified and can either choose to play the remaining games against the team or withdraw from those games. Giving the other schools this option allows them to make their own decision and keeps it from becoming a state-wide decision. After the quarantine period, the players and coaches from both infected teams will be monitored for symptoms and assuming all things come back in the clear, they will be able to resume play.

I cannot say that i’m surprised to see that Iowa has seen some positive cases from players in the league as that is something that they cannot control. However, I am surprised at the way that they are handling things over there. They are putting the safety of the kids first in monitoring all of them closely, yet they have yet to shut everything down just because of a few asymptomatic positive tests. I think that this is actually a good thing for a surrounding area official to study and see that though it may not be easy to return, it sure is possible.

 

Check out more of Jake West’s Scoring Points by reading last week’s article: Will Youth Sports Make it Through Corona Shutdown?. Also remember, in sports, points are scored by both sides, so send in your opinions on sports to [email protected] and see them in our next Sunday Edition.

Scoring Points: Will Youth Sports Make it Through Corona Shutdown?

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Scoring Points, meeting, sports setbacks, basketball, fake fans

Youth sports are beginning to ramp back up all across the country. In Texas and Florida, all youth sports have resumed their regular programming. In Iowa, baseball and softball have resumed all the way up to the high school level. Even youth football leagues in Indiana have returned for on the field practices.

Seeing these other states getting back to normal is a great sight, but nowhere near what we are used to seeing around the US at this time of year. The Smoky Mountain Youth Football League in the Murphy area has already cancelled their upcoming season. With youth sports participation dropping already, one can only think that it will plummet in the following years after kids are forced to sit out this year. I understand that the cancellation was for the safety of the kids but it is hard for me to believe that there was not a way around completely cancelling the entire season. I know that most of the parents around the community will take initiative and find ways to keep their children active and involved, but I feel for the kids who do not have any structure in their lives until it comes to organized sports. My hope is that the upcoming youth league baseball, softball, and soccer seasons will not be cancelled so at least those kids will get to play.

I know it may not seem like a big deal at this exact point in time, for these kids to miss just one season, but the financial fallout will impact the leagues that cancel for years to come. I also think that this could lead to kids moving around and playing in different leagues and perhaps never returning, ultimately hurting not only the youth league as a whole but the JV and Varsity teams that they would have eventually played on.

I guess what I am saying is, just let the kids play.

 

Check out more of Jake West’s Scoring Points by reading last week’s article: Georgia back at practice with restrictions. Also remember, in sports, points are scored by both sides, so send in your opinions on sports to [email protected] and see them in our next Sunday Edition.

Texas to allow spectators to return to pro sports

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Scoring Points, meeting, sports setbacks, basketball, fake fans

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Thursday may 28th that fans will be allowed at outdoor sporting events in a limited capacity. Starting on Friday, all counties will be able to host in-person spectators for outdoor sports in venues as long as visitors are capped at 25% capacity. The professional sports leagues will have to adhere to Texas department of state services rules and regulations and also apply and receive approval from the department. 

I realize that we’re talking about Texas here and that Texas is over 1,000 miles away from our North Georgia area, however I think that this is a great sign for things to come here in our area. At the beginning of the month we were thinking that sports were not even a thought on the horizon and yet here we are at the end of the month with area schools being able to return to workouts and practice. Texas and a few other states have sort of become the model for how North Carolina and Georgia are returning to do things, except at a much quicker pace. 

The one major thing that is sad about the fans return is that it only addresses professional sports and has no mention of college or high school. Personally though, I know that pretty much all of us around here have been missing out on heading to SunTrust park and being able to sit and watch a Braves game. 

Another great piece of news to come out of Texas is that the Governor has already said that they are planning to have college football start on time and he also said on Friday in an interview with KXAN-TV in Austin, “If you want a prediction, my prediction is yes, we are gonna have college football beginning as scheduled … with at least some level of fans in stands.”

This is a great piece of news to come out of Texas and hopefully North Carolina and Georgia are close behind and will follow suit.

 

 

Check out more of Jake West’s Scoring Points by reading last week’s article: Scoring Points: GHSA Gives OK For Sports To Resume. Also, remember, in sports, points are scored by both sides, so send in your opinions on sports to [email protected] and see them in our next Sunday Edition.

Scoring Points: Sports in the US and a need vs want

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Recruiting, Spring, spring sports, sports, Gentry

Being that we are without sports right now in any capacity, every fan around the world seems to be speculating when they will return. There has been a lot of talk about the return of sports to a nation yearning for some hint of normalcy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Major League Baseball has been giving us a glimmer of hope with their talk about quarantining all of the teams, players, coaches and staff in a virus-free area and holding games in empty ballparks. The UFC has also discussed ways that they could carry on with their operations, scheduling bouts on tribal land in Central California, and Dana White has also reported that he has purchased a private island to have fights on. Even President Donald Trump has been longing for sports just like us, saying “I want fans back in the arenas.” 

However as much as the common man may be longing for a return of sports, experts are saying that it may not be safe even with no spectators. Many public health experts fear it would be a risky proposition if the outbreak persists or recedes during the summer and reemerges in the fall. 

One good sign for the return of sports however is the Korean Baseball Organization and their planned opening day next month. In the KBO as it stands, players are being constantly checked for symptoms and fevers, stadiums remain shuttered and rumors are that even one case of the virus in the system could halt the KBO’s return. It is easier for the KBO to return to day to day baseball operations than it is for the United States however, because of the widespread testing the Korea has access to that we do not. 

Even as weird as it would look and feel, for Major League teams to be playing in empty stadiums and living in isolated hotels, I believe that it would do our country a whole lot of good to see baseball being played again. In a time like this, it is easy for people to lose hope. People are losing jobs left and right and others are unable to see their family members in fear of infecting them or becoming infected. Seeing this little sliver of normality return could really ease some peoples minds at this point, as it seems there is no complete return to normalcy in sight at the moment. I believe that we need to inch back toward reality. I understand how hard it would be for the MLB to implement their plan, but God help I pray they do. Our country needs a little joy right now. And what better way to bring joy to the masses than broadcasting professional baseball to millions of living rooms across the US filled with quarantined families.

 

 

 

Check out more of Jake West’s Scoring Points by reading last week’s article: Spring Sports spent getting back to “normal.” And remember, in sports, points are scored by both sides, so send in your opinions on sports to [email protected] and see them in our next Sunday Edition.

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