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Salem high school fall sports season pushed to spring, state association announces

Gibson Hanowell, left, and Leo Elkington, right, warm up during a cross country practice in Bush’s Pasture Park in early August. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter)

Cross country runners, soccer and volleyball players won’t start their season until March under new guidelines released by the Oregon School Activities Association Wednesday.

Athletes will now compete in shortened seasons that last two months, starting in late December and ending in June.

The announcement follows uncertainty from players and coaches over whether a season could occur at all with students learning remotely this upcoming fall term.

Brian Armstrong, athletic director at South Salem High School, said the district’s athletic directors are meeting Thursday to digest the news.

At first blush, Armstrong said he’s happy with the decision because it gives athletes a chance at a traditional sports season – even if it’s condensed.

“It’s just hard for those kids and coaches to have to miss out on their season,” he said, noting that the basketball team had to cut its season short in the spring.

The number of games allowed has been reduced, so Armstrong said a lot of work will go into rescheduling games. There’s also the issue of transportation when students compete at away games.

But Armstrong said having a season gives the students something to look forward to.

Shifting the season calendar later in the school year provides additional time for more schools to return to a hybrid or on-site learning format while providing flexibility for local school districts to make decisions this fall that are best for their school communities as health metrics and state guidance in this area continues to develop,” OSAA said in a news release.

Winter sports like swimming, wrestling and basketball will take place in January and February and spring sports like golf, tennis, track, baseball and softball will occur in May and June. Sports seasons typically last two and a half to four months, depending on the sport.

DOCUMENT LINK: OSAA calendar

OSAA said it’s up to local school districts to decide which activities and sports will be permitted to practice when school returns. Some teams have been conditioning since early July, with physical distancing, fixed groups of athletes called “pods” and masks.

The South Salem High School cross country team is one of them. On Wednesday morning, the team of about 80 runners ran around Bush’s Pasture Park during one of its summer practices.

Runners stayed in set groups and wore masks while warming up.

Coach Robert Salberg said having a season is the most important thing, but the team still has to wait for the district to come out with its own guidance.

Initially, he was thinking the team might have informal meets where the runners could attempt their best time at local parks around Salem in lieu of meets against other teams around the state.

“My concern is kids unsupervised again for another three months. If they can do something healthy and active and outside, make that exception,” he said.

The OSAA activities with no defined season include cheerleading, dance, speech, choir and band.

Steve Walker, sports information director at OSAA, said because activities like choir, band and orchestra occur in classrooms, school districts will have to decide if they’ll open their doors for groups to practice. 

“I think it’s kind of an ever-changing situation based on when the state and the Oregon Health Authority and Department of Education can kind of be on the same page of what’s allowable,” Walker said. 

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Have a story tip? Contact reporter Saphara Harrell at 503-549-6250, [email protected] or @daisysaphara.