The fall high school sports season is in limbo.
The Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association announced last week that provincial championships for the fall sports season are postponed while Alberta remains in Stage 2 of the economic relaunch with only in-school practices permitted as of Sept. 1.
“All of our fall sports have been impacted by the decision,” said Foothills Composite athletic director Curt Colfer. “The ASAA has all the student athletes’ well being, I think, at the core of their decision. Basically, they’ve postponed our provincial championships and competitions right now are a no-go. We’re allowed to practise provided that we’re basically following physical distancing and the guidelines set forth by AHS and we have to abide by the guidelines that Foothills School Division is putting forward too.”
Colfer said the Foothills athletic department is still moving forward with its teams with the hopes of competition resuming down the line.
“We need to plan for that and prepare for that. That’s what our goal is right now,” Colfer said. “We were prepared for it, just awaiting the announcement from the ASAA. We weren’t sure what it was going to look like fully, but I was pretty confident there wasn’t going to be competition, at least in some of our sports.
“I think they decided to make this decision for equality and fairness, to let one sport go and one not go is tough.”
The ASAA issued a statement on the matter on Aug. 13, noting the postponement and the potential for resuming competition in the future.
“Having considered the terms of the Government of Alberta’s (GoA) relaunch strategy and with input from stakeholders, the ASAA Executive Committee has made the decision to postpone all ASAA fall provincial championships until the Alberta Government moves to Stage 3 and outlines the implications for inter-regional sports competition.
“Once the GoA announces the details of Stage 3 of its relaunch strategy, the ASAA Executive Committee will consider what the implications are for inter-school athletic competition and ASAA Provincial championship events with a focus that places safety of all participants first and foremost.”
The ASAA’s Safe Return to High School Athletics issued on Aug. 11 outlined a number of guidelines in its 10-page document.
The release indicated the fall sports of football, golf and cross-country could not resume the season of play until Sept. 1 with only in-school practices available at this time. Volleyball’s season of play can resume no earlier than the first operational day of classes.
“Currently the Government of Alberta is in Stage 2 of their relaunch plan. The ASAA does not approve any interschool athletic interaction (including scrimmage and competition) during Stage 2 at this time. Should GoA restrictions regarding cohorts or inter-region play change during Stage 2, the ASAA Executive will reevaluate its position on this. There is currently no timeline for when the Government of Alberta will move into Stage 3 of their relaunch plan or what Stage 3 would mean for high school athletics as there has been no direction at this time on how sports will look in Stage 3.”
Colfer said he supports the decision, adding the Falcons coaches are happy to provide individual training to its athletes in lieu of competition.
“Most of our practices, or all of our practices are going to look like individual skill development,” Colfer said “We will be working with our students on improving their individual skills and maybe some team stuff involved with that, but it won’t be gameplay and it won’t be active drills where there would be that kind of contact.”
It’s a tough pill to swallow, but the athletic director said the feedback he’s received shows the Falcons athletes have taken the news in stride.
“I’ve talked to a few of them, they’re definitely disappointed and I think a lot of them also understand the gravity of the situation, understand where we’re at,” Colfer said. “Of course, they want to play, they want to be involved – especially our seniors in their last season — but they understand the situation we’re in globally.
“I believe it’s for the better in the long term and most of them understand that, but of course they’re disappointed just like our coaches are that we don’t have competitions lined up yet.”
