Are Coast schools canceling high school sports amid coronavirus? Here is the latest.
With all school districts in South Mississippi announcing over the weekend that they would cancel classes for the upcoming week, high schools began to also call off sporting events.
On Monday, the Mississippi High School Activities Association announced that all public school sporting events will be canceled through at least March 29. The suspension applies whether or not a school will be open or closed during that time.
Tupelo Public Schools announced Friday it is canceling sports for the upcoming week. On Saturday, Ocean Springs became the first school district on the Coast to cancel classes and sporting events for the week of March 16-20. Biloxi, Long Beach, Picayune, Pass Christian, St. Patrick Catholic School, Jackson County School District, Bay-Waveland School District and the Harrison County School District all followed with similar decisions.
Some Coast school districts acknowledged that classes could be closed for a couple of weeks and George County became the first to announce that it will close March 16-30, shutting down all athletic events and facilities.
The Pearl River County School District will be closing Monday and officials say they will be evaluating closures on a weekly basis.
Stone High, which is on spring break for the week of March 16-20, canceled all sporting events during that time period.
The Gulfport School District has also closed schools through March 20 and there will be no games or practices at least through Friday, according to athletic director Bryan Caldwell.
As of Friday, many school districts had planned to move forward with games.
“I spoke with the superintendent last night and right now we’re proceeding as normal,” Caldwell told the Sun Herald Friday. “We’re taking precautions with cleaning and sanitation in locker rooms and facilities, but at this point we’re proceeding as normal.”
Prior to Saturday’s decision to cancel sporting events, Biloxi Public Schools began to discourage fans from attending games, hoping only family members of student-athletes would show up.
The Mississippi High School Activities Association said in a statement on Thursday that it is closely monitoring the situation with COVID-19 and that school administrators have the right postpone any sporting event.
On Monday, MHSAA decided to clear the sports calendar for at least a couple of weeks.
“I know that (executive director) Don Hinton and the MHSAA are on top of it,” Pascagoula-Gautier athletic director Greg Freeman said on Friday. “I’m sure Don has been talking with other executive directors throughout the country and he’ll come up with a good plan.
“I think that we just need to be on alert, but on the other hand we don’t want to take the opportunity to take playing away from kids unless it’s something that’s necessary.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 3:08 PM.
