The Mississippi High School Activities Association is giving local school districts the option of continuing practices for fall sports even if schools are temporarily barred from playing games.

The surge of the COVID-19 Delta variant in Mississippi has already affected some MHSAA member institutions by forcing them to go to 100% virtual learning due to the number of students who tested positive for COVID-19. Last week, the association passed a rule saying schools whose campuses were temporarily closed to in-person learning would not be allowed to practice or compete against other teams in fall sports contests as long as students weren’t allowed on campuses. On Monday, MHSAA Executive Director Rickey Neaves announced a slight alteration to that rule in a video posted to the association’s official Twitter account.

Neaves said while schools who have moved to temporary virtual learning due to COVID cases would still not be allowed to compete against other schools, the option to practice during the virtual learning period would be in the hands of the member institutions’ school districts.

“Because of the times we’re in and the 14-day acclimation period, we have revised that rule (Monday) to state that if a school is 100% virtual, then with school district permission, they will be able to practice only for those sports that are in season,” Neaves said in the video. “However, there will be no contests held as long as a school is 100% virtual. Those contests scheduled during this time will have to be forfeited, and if practices are going on, that will keep the student-athletes and participants acclimated to where once the school returns to in-person learning, then the schedule can be picked up at that point.”

Current MHSAA rules state a football team must have 14 consecutive days of preseason practices prior to the start of the schedule that allow athletes to become acclimated to warm temperatures that persist for most of the season. Due to schools having to go to virtual learning, some MHSAA teams had to cancel scheduled football games, and not being able to practice would prevent them from getting the required 14 days before they could begin the season. 

Southeast Lauderdale football coach Wade Pierce said the new rule announced Monday allows schools who may have gone to virtual learning but may not have COVID-19 outbreaks within their football teams to continue practicing and not have to further disrupt their schedules once their campuses are back open to in-person learning.

“This helps knock out the acclimation period because they’d still be practicing,” Pierce said. “Hopefully in two weeks after they come off virtual, they can still play if they had been practicing by then.”

Giving local school districts the ability to allow fall sports practices for teams without COVID-19 outbreaks was a smart decision, Pierce said, as long as it was safe to do so.

“I think that’s a big help,” Pierce said. “If Southeast were to shut down — and we’re in no way, shape or form close to that — but if we were we could still practice and hopefully play a game in two weeks if there were no issues with the football team.”

Meridian High School athletic director Cheyenne Trussell said he was a member of the MHSAA executive committee for four years and said he trusts their decision-making process, even if they’re having to make adjustments on the fly.

“I understand they’re really looking out for the total child, academically and athletically,” Trussell said. “It’s important to be reminded that we’re still in a pandemic and in uncharted territory, and I’d caution everyone to use patience and we move forward together. I’m sure they’re getting together with the Mississippi Department of Education as well as the medical community, and I trust them completely in their decision making.”

While everyone had hoped COVID-19 wouldn’t be an issue this fall, Pierce said he’s continuing to take it seriously and understands the challenges the MHSAA faces as it tries to proceed with the fall sports seasons.

“COVID is something that’s obviously very serious,” Pierce said. “I take it very seriously, and it’s something we as a school take very seriously, and the reason is it affects so many people in so many different ways. Statistics say most children will be perfectly fine, but at the same time you don’t know how someone is going to react to (COVID), whether it’s a kid, a coach, an administrator or someone at the school. We take every precaution you can take. I know we were all hoping by this time we’d have some level of normalcy back, but it’s looking like it’s something we’ll be dealing with again this year. It’s a big concern. You don’t ever know what’s going to happen each week.”

Like Trussell, Pierce stressed patience in allowing the MHSAA to make adjustments to rules and safety practices.

“The thing is, there isn’t a playbook on what’s right and wrong with this,” Pierce said. “We’re almost making it up as we go. That’s not to say people don’t have plans, but this is something we don’t fully understand what’s going on. I think the MHSAA is doing the best it can at the moment because we’re still learning and trying to keep up with everything else. I think they’re trying to make it fair for all teams, to where if you get shut down you might only have to miss two weeks instead of four. I think they’re doing the best they can with the information they have right now.”