As summer sports training is expected to start for all high school teams on July 13th, there is speculation that the fall sports season will be unable to start on time. Summer practices have already been postponed and limited to non-contact activities.

Football, soccer, volleyball, cross country, and cheerleading shouldn’t have to suffer losing a good chunk of their season. However, complications can be made to start their seasons later while still giving the sports of all seasons a chance to have a full schedule. 

If the July 13th start date stays intact, fall athletes will only miss a few weeks of their offseason. Instead of starting their seasons in late-August, which is when games would start in a typical season, perhaps every season should be pushed back a few weeks to fulfill every high school athlete and coach’s wishes for a full season.

For this proposed idea, fall sports could start in late-September or October, which is about a month later than usual, and end in late-December of January. Although it is not ideal for outdoor athletes to play in the cold weather, it has been done before.

Winter sports, who have the longest season for high school sports, can push their start date back a month as well to late-December or January, and end around a month later so the winter athletes can play a full schedule, which includes their county and state tournaments.

Now one might ask, ‘How do schools expect to be able to get a full spring-season in on time before school ends?’ As a matter of fact, pushing back spring sports could actually be very beneficial, as cold and rainy weather in March tends to postpone many outdoor sports like baseball, softball, and lacrosse. 

Since spring sports tend to end by early-June, there would be enough time to get in a full season that can end before July starts. Soon-to-be senior, Tommy Callahan, is a high school football and baseball athlete that would be thrilled to get a full-season in for both of his sports.

“As I approach my last high school season, it would really be a shame to have one of my sports cut short due to the pandemic. If getting a full football season means that I have to play in colder weather, I’m all for it” said Callahan. “I already had to go through the experience of losing my junior baseball season, and it would mean a lot to me if my last year of high school sports is as long as possible.”