08/03/20- Middle School Interscholastic Athletics Reminders and Interim Guidance for 2020-21
PrintThis document is as of August 3, 2020, and in effect until further altered, revised, or superseded. Senior high school administrators in receipt of this notice should ensure that this information is forwarded to those involved in middle school athletics as direct contact is difficult from this office. Certainly, every district administrator should be concerned about these provisions from a risk and liability standpoint as they have the force of law within state regulation. We would ask that recipients widely distribute this information.
Recently, the KHSAA Board of Control addressed high school fall sports with regard to the current COVID-19 pandemic (dates, restrictions, competition limits, etc). The KHSAA Board of Control has control over those levels, however, the jurisdiction for middle school interscholastic athletics is assigned to the KHSAA through its Commissioner through 702 KAR 7:065 Section 4.
The Commissioner, therefore, issues the following directives that apply to middle school athletics, which are in congruence with the guidance for high school athletics.
Therefore, this reminder is issued in alignment with 702 KAR 7:065, Section 4(10) which specifies that the limitation of seasons for middle school athletics shall not exceed that of high school athletics.
As such, the following limitations are in place for the 2020-21 school year:
- No middle school mandatory practices may be held prior to August 24th.
- No middle school interscholastic competitions in sports other than football may be held prior to September 7th and no middle school football games can be played prior to September 11th.
- The provision in the regulation for football-related to specific requirements for preseason football practice (702 KAR 7:065, Sec 4(10), 3(b)(4) and 3(c), which can be referenced online by CLICKING HERE
- Please note, traditional fall high school sports (football, cross country, volleyball, soccer, field hockey) have had an adjustment to the allowable number of games for the 2020-21 school year along with the elimination of all interscholastic scrimmaging. A corresponding adjustment to the middle school schedule (determined by the local school districts) in all fall middle school sports is strongly recommended.
Middle School administrators are also reminded that all athletics are to remain in segment 3 for each respective sport from August 3 – August 23. For example, if basketball is played in the fall at the middle school level, middle schools should be following guidance for basketball in Segment 3. It is strongly recommended that out of season sports not be conducting any more summer sessions as everyone focuses on the start of fall practice. The key thing for all involved is to understand that per the Governor’s original order, which has yet to expire, there is not to be any person-on-person contact in those high touch sports until the start of official fall practice.
Details about segments, broken down by sport, can be found here: http://khsaa.org/resources/Covid19/khsaajune2020covidallowancesandrestrictions.pdf
-KHSAA-
About the Kentucky High School Athletic Association
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association was organized in 1917 and is the agency designated by the Kentucky Department of Education to manage high school athletics in the Commonwealth. The Association is a voluntary nonprofit 501(c)3 organization made up of 280 member schools both public and non-public. The KHSAA awards 215 state championships to 51 teams and 164 individuals in 13 sports and 6 sport-activities, funds catastrophic insurance coverage for its more than 106,000 rostered member school student-athletes, provides coaching education and sports safety programs for more than 12,000 coaches, and licenses and facilitates the distribution of training material for over 4,000 contest officials.
