My View-Point
When looking at the recent landscape of high school sports in general. Everything changed in March in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
I know people are looking to blame others particularly those who didn’t get a chance to compete for State Championships in their senior season of high school.
I do wonder that if the spring season would had been played had we had a better understanding. There were are several sports that could had been done with social distancing such as baseball, softball, tennis, golf, and track and field. Soccer could have been played as well despite the physical contact but not to the extent. The only sport that would have been concerning was lacrosse because of the physical contact.
I know there are people who need to take blame for the Class of 2020 for having their spring seasons taken away but to their defense we didn’t know much about this disease at that time but we know a lot more about it now.
There will be those who blame Governor Gretchen Whitmer and I don’t blame those who blame her. It was Whitmer who closed the schools and eventually the State shutdown in March based on “Executive Order” basically saying that we can’t have students in the schools and that it would be very difficult to have extra circular activities continue.
Whitmer revealed her “Return to School Plan” in late June naming specific guidelines to return to school. She said that if the State is in Phases four, five, and six then schools could open up for in person instruction which includes athletics. If Whitmer returns the State back to Phase three then the schools would have online learning which nobody wants.
Online learning has its disadvantages and especially from a mental standpoint. This is where it gets murky. Some students don’t have access to the internet and the need to interact is not there. Also there is no certain timetable if students aren’t able to get their work done on time. Students also struggle mentally especially not seeing their friends and they need that interaction. Teachers also have a hard time as well not seeing their students every day. It also causes a strain on parents especially those who have to work for a living.
Whitmer has mentioned that she will send students and teachers to school when it is safe to do so.
In Whitmer’s plan there are several conferences that are in different regions of her plan which poses problems. The NFHS guidelines state that they want schools to play close and to limit travel. It doesn’t affect the OAA too much (all schools in Oakland County) or the Macomb Area Conference with all their schools in one region in four counties (Oakland, Macomb Wayne, and St. Clair) but conferences like the Saginaw Valley League in which their schools are in three regions with four counties (Isabella County which has Mount Pleasant is in Grand Rapids region while Genesee and Lapeer counties are in the Detroit region and the rest of the schools are in the Saginaw region.) The Greater Thumb Conference has two teams that aren’t in the Saginaw region in Memphis and Yale. The Flint Metro League has one school that’s in a different region in Corunna that’s in Shiawassee County which is in the Lansing region and the Ottawa Kent Conference in which their schools are in three different regions with the majority of the west side counties. Every school district and most leagues will have problems with Whitmer’s regional plan. Her regional plan could force leagues to break up or force schools to create new leagues based off travel.
This virus has taken so much away from our daily lives. Student development can’t be done online. There has to have a form of inclusion. People meeting people, it can be done safely.
Maybe it’s time to trust each other a little bit more.
When looking at the recent landscape of high school sports in general. Everything changed in March in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
I know people are looking to blame others particularly those who didn’t get a chance to compete for State Championships in their senior season of high school.
I do wonder that if the spring season would had been played had we had a better understanding. There were are several sports that could had been done with social distancing such as baseball, softball, tennis, golf, and track and field. Soccer could have been played as well despite the physical contact but not to the extent. The only sport that would have been concerning was lacrosse because of the physical contact.
I know there are people who need to take blame for the Class of 2020 for having their spring seasons taken away but to their defense we didn’t know much about this disease at that time but we know a lot more about it now.
There will be those who blame Governor Gretchen Whitmer and I don’t blame those who blame her. It was Whitmer who closed the schools and eventually the State shutdown in March based on “Executive Order” basically saying that we can’t have students in the schools and that it would be very difficult to have extra circular activities continue.
Whitmer revealed her “Return to School Plan” in late June naming specific guidelines to return to school. She said that if the State is in Phases four, five, and six then schools could open up for in person instruction which includes athletics. If Whitmer returns the State back to Phase three then the schools would have online learning which nobody wants.
Online learning has its disadvantages and especially from a mental standpoint. This is where it gets murky. Some students don’t have access to the internet and the need to interact is not there. Also there is no certain timetable if students aren’t able to get their work done on time. Students also struggle mentally especially not seeing their friends and they need that interaction. Teachers also have a hard time as well not seeing their students every day. It also causes a strain on parents especially those who have to work for a living.
Whitmer has mentioned that she will send students and teachers to school when it is safe to do so.
In Whitmer’s plan there are several conferences that are in different regions of her plan which poses problems. The NFHS guidelines state that they want schools to play close and to limit travel. It doesn’t affect the OAA too much (all schools in Oakland County) or the Macomb Area Conference with all their schools in one region in four counties (Oakland, Macomb Wayne, and St. Clair) but conferences like the Saginaw Valley League in which their schools are in three regions with four counties (Isabella County which has Mount Pleasant is in Grand Rapids region while Genesee and Lapeer counties are in the Detroit region and the rest of the schools are in the Saginaw region.) The Greater Thumb Conference has two teams that aren’t in the Saginaw region in Memphis and Yale. The Flint Metro League has one school that’s in a different region in Corunna that’s in Shiawassee County which is in the Lansing region and the Ottawa Kent Conference in which their schools are in three different regions with the majority of the west side counties. Every school district and most leagues will have problems with Whitmer’s regional plan. Her regional plan could force leagues to break up or force schools to create new leagues based off travel.
This virus has taken so much away from our daily lives. Student development can’t be done online. There has to have a form of inclusion. People meeting people, it can be done safely.
Maybe it’s time to trust each other a little bit more.