MIAA’s Football Committee votes to allow ‘out-of-season’ coaching
Some districts have voted against out-of-season coaching, while others are split on their decision.
Some Massachusetts high school football teams might be practicing soon.
The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Football Committee held a meeting on Tuesday, via Zoom, to discuss what the fall season will look like for high school sports. According to the Boston Globe, the association’s Board of Directors voted to allow out-of-season coaching this school year.
In order to allow out-of-season coaching, the Board waived Rule 40.1, a rule that doesn’t allow coaches to hold practices between seasons, due to “extenuating circumstances” caused by COVID-19.
The Board voted in August to move “high risk” sports, such as football, to a ‘floating’ season, also known as Fall II. That is expected to be held from Feb. 22 to April 25.
Other fall sports (except football, competitive cheer and unified basketball) can start holding practices on Friday, given that they follow the modifications outlined by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) and their individual school committees.
— Merrimack Valley Conference (@MVConference) September 15, 2020
Some districts have voted against out-of-season coaching, while others are split on their decision. In District 6, certain schools could be able to conduct modified practices, such as private schools in the Catholic Conference and Central Catholic League.
Schools in the Boston League, however, are “prohibited by law from running the same type of sessions, since they are in districts designated as high-risk by the state’s Department of Health.”
MIAA associate executive director Richard Pearson proposed that they create a small subcommittee to address football activities this fall and in the Fall II period.
The football committee also voted, 18-0-0, to implement rules proposed by the National Federation of High Schools to potentially have an MIAA football season next spring.
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