Pending Governor’s Approval High School Activities Can Resume Practice June 1

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

Two months of no athletic activities at high schools across the state of Mississippi will be coming to an end on June 1.

The Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) executive committee met Thursday and set “return to activity” guidelines for schools after all athletic events were shut down in March due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The MHSAA Executive Committee approved the following for summer athletics and activities, effective June 1 and for this only:

• School athletics and fine arts activity programs can begin summer practices, workouts, skill development, weightlifting, conditioning and rehearsals for student-athletes and fine arts participants on June 1, pending Gov. Tate Reeves’ upcoming announcement on a date to reopen all Mississippi school facilities. Athletic coaches and activity directors must confirm with their school and/or district administrators that a specific school facility is open and available for use.
• Competition in athletics and activities between or among MHSAA member or non-member schools and/or teams is canceled until school resumes in the fall. (No 7-7 completions)
• All practices, workouts, skill development, weightlifting, conditioning and rehearsals shall be considered voluntary for student-athletes and activities participants.
• School teams and school activities participation and travel to summer programs and/or team camps are not allowed. On-campus summer programs and/or school camps should adhere to national, state and local COVID-19 health recommendations.

In the press release issued by the committee and MHSAA Executive Director Don Hinton issued this statement.

“Once again, we appreciate the effort, hard work and leadership of our 15-member Executive Committee of school administrators in making difficult decisions during these uncertain times,” Hinton said. “The support of our MHSAA member schools has been greatly appreciated as well. Our highest priority is and always will be the safety, health and welfare of Mississippi’s students, educators and communities. We will continue to assess new information and develop plans for the upcoming 2020-21 fall sports and activities seasons. Weekly updates will be provided to help our member schools as we look forward to the new school year of sports and activities.”

For the full list of activity guidelines that were set on May 21, 2020 click here.