Kansas high school football in the spring? ‘Alternative Fall’ plan will be put to vote
After 30 approved proposals and a unanimous decision, the possibility of Kansas high school football being played in the spring is alive.
The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) Executive Board voted 9-0 to approve the staff’s grand proposal giving schools that have canceled, or will cancel, all fall activities the opportunity to truncate those seasons and move them to the spring. The proposal now goes before the KSHSAA board of directors, a governing body made up of more than 70 representatives.
That meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday.
If passed, there is a trigger that launches the plan: KSHSAA member schools will be split into two “bands,” or groups (Classes 6/5/4A and 3/2/1A). If more than half of the schools in a group cancels even just one activity this fall, all schools in that group will move all fall activities to the spring.
Here are some specifics about what the KSHSAA proposal includes:
- Football, volleyball, boys soccer, cross country, girls golf, girls tennis and gymnastics move their seasons to start March 1.
- First days of competitions: Girls golf, girls tennis would start March 5; volleyball would start March 12; football, cross country would begin March 17; gymnastics would start March 19.
- Final days of competitions: Girls golf would end April 12; girls tennis would finish April 17; football, volleyball, boys soccer, cross country and gymnastics would all wrap up April 23.
- Number of competitions: Football teams would have 6 games; volleyball teams would play 27 matches; boys soccer would play 12; cross country would have 5 meets; girls golf and girls tennis would play 6 times; Gymnastics teams would compete 8 times.
- No state meets or state playoffs: KSHSAA would encourage schools and leagues to schedule league championships or rivalry games as teams’ final competitions.
Here is how that move would affect regularly scheduled spring sports:
- Beginning of seasons: Moved from March 1 to March 28 for baseball, softball, girls soccer, track and field, girls swimming and diving, boys tennis, boys golf.
- Final days of competitions: boys tennis - June 12; girls swimming and diving - June 19; boys golf - June 21; baseball, softball - June 25; girls soccer, track and field - June 26.
- Number of competitions: baseball and softball teams would play 20 games; girls soccer would play 16; track and field teams would have 8 meets, girls swimming and diving teams 10 meets; boys tennis and boys golf would play 8 competitions.
- All state meets and playoffs would be played as scheduled.
Along with the proposed changes in dates as outlined above, 30 rules changes were approved Monday. Here are some within KSHSAA’s “Alternative Fall” plan:
- If a football team participates in at least five games or if it practices/competes after Oct. 17, it is not eligible for the “Alternative Fall” season
If a volleyball team participates in at least 20 matches or if it practices/competes after Oct. 10, it is not eligible for the “Alternative Fall” season
If a boys soccer team participates in at least nine games or if it practices/competes after Oct. 10, it is not eligible for the “Alternative Fall” season
If a cross country team participates in at least four meets or if it practices/competes after Oct. 10, it is not eligible for the “Alternative Fall” season
If a girls golf team participates in at least five events or if it practices/competes after Sept. 26, it is not eligible for the “Alternative Fall” season
If a girls tennis team participates in at least five meets or if it practices/competes after Sept. 26, it is not eligible for the “Alternative Fall” season
- Participation in the “Alternative Fall” is optional but encouraged for all schools where appropriate
- Participation in the “Alternative Fall” is activity-specific (not all or nothing)
- Commitment to this year’s traditional fall season for each activity is due by Sept. 21
- Team champions will be crowned in the traditional fall season if there are at least eight participating schools in a given classification
- Alternative fall schedules should be completed within a league
- All out-of-state competitions are discouraged
- All multiple-team competitions or practices are discouraged
- Schools that merge for particular activities may merge with other schools if a partner cannot participate
- Students who compete in the “Extended spring” season do not lose academic eligibility at the end of the academic year with activities extending into the summer
- Transfer students are not eligible at their new schools if they change residences and enroll following the final class day in the previous school and prior to the end of the extended spring season
- Transfer students are not eligible for a second season in the same sport within a given year
- The “Alternative fall” and “Extended spring” seasons are dependent on the winter season ending on time
There are a number of potential concerns with the newly proposed format.
Greg Rosenhagen, Class 3A representative on the board and Cheney High’s principal, said the “spring group is kind of getting the shaft,” after having its 2020 season canceled. Under the alternative fall plan, spring seasons are not shortened, but their start times are moved.
“We agree it’s not good, but we tried to minimize the impact to the spring,” KSHSAA executive director Bill Faflick said. “Right now, in this model, it may or may not be impacted. It’s only impacted if the majority of schools within that band have to go to the alternative fall. If it’s not, the only impact is we’ve got stacked schedules for those schools that do participate in the alternative fall: They’ve got fall on top of spring.”
There will be a significant impact on offseason club sports, effectively forcing athletes to choose between a high school season or a club season, in which there are potentially more scholarship dollars at stake/available.
“I can’t make that (decision) for a family,” Faflick said. “But I can tell you this: Not every kid has an opportunity to go participate in club activities. Every kid has the opportunity to be on your school team if you’ve earned that opportunity through academic success and through appropriate eligibility considerations. To be in a club sport, I’ve got to sign up and have somebody pay for it.”
Under the alternative fall plan, the adjusted fall and spring schedules would overlap greatly in some areas. Spring sports would start March 28, about a month after the adjusted fall sports. But fall sports wouldn’t end until April 23 for football, volleyball, boys soccer, cross country and gymnastics.
That is a 26-day overlap, potentially forcing some student-athletes, particularly in smaller communities, to choose whether to finish the football season or start the baseball season. That would in turn have an impact on the number of available officials, of which there is already a shortage.
“If boys and girls soccer was to move to spring, there is a lot of overlap, and I think it would be pretty nightmare-ish,” KSHSAA assistant director Rod Garman said. “We’d probably see a lot of ‘dual officiating’ going on rather than three.”
Although many questions remain about the potentially stacked spring season, it could provide athletes another chance to play a lost football, volleyball or other fall sports season.
“We’re all still pressing with that hopefulness to play fall normal, but the reality might be something that we are not prepared for to cancel everything and move over to spring,” said Jason Herman, Class 6A representative on the board and Olathe North’s principal.