The path toward a winter high school sports season in Franklin County, at least in terms of games and competitions, remained uncertain Wednesday night, as two Franklin County school districts debated the feasibility of holding high school winter sports during their respective school committee meetings.
Both Greenfield High School and Mohawk Trail Regional High School tackled the debate Wednesday.
In Greenfield, the school committee approved a motion with some ambiguity for the months ahead. The committee unanimously voted that skills and drills practices for basketball and hockey can begin Jan. 4 (the PVIAC’s current proposed starting date for winter sports) with the possibility that games and competitions can follow provided that state guidelines and local recommendations allow for such activity.
School Committee Chair Amy Proietti said that as the group has been meeting every two weeks during the pandemic, the motion allows the topic the chance to be revisited leading into January.
“We’re being asked to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to something that none of us know,” Proietti said, referring to future metrics of COVID-19 and the state’s recommendations on sports come January.
Greenfield Interim Board of Health Director Jennifer Hoffman addressed the committee and stressed that while the BOH’s recommendation is that only skills and drills should be allowed at the high school this winter (no games or competitions), that decision wasn’t taken lightly.
“The Board of Health does want sports, and we do care about the youth of our community,” Hoffman said. “But the (COVID-19) metrics are going up exponentially. I think (the proposed start date of) January 4 is a great thought but that’s right after Christmas. The numbers jumped up dramatically after Thanksgiving.”
Greenfield High School Athletic Director Mike Kuchieski asked the committee for the chance to get started early next month, stressing that he believed there’s a path forward for athletics to happen safely at GHS. Neighboring Turners Falls High School approved the sports of basketball, hockey and swimming in late November.
“I want our kids to play, I want our kids to compete against those other (schools),” Kuchieski explained. “We can do it safely, we can do it competitively. I want to have something for our kids to be able to do.”
Public comment early in Wednesday’s meeting featured passionate pleas from several Greenfield residents in support of winter athletics.
Greenfield High School junior Ryan Cote, a captain on the boys basketball team, said he was “devastated” to hear about the potential cancellation of the winter sports season.
“Canceling our season is actually the worst thing you can do for our safety,” offered Cote, who said he and his teammates have been playing basketball safely for several months. “We don’t care if there are no fans, don’t care if we have to wear masks… we just want to play.”
The sport of ice hockey also received attention, as Franklin County Hockey Association President Sean Lavoine and 18U head coach Ron Lenois Jr. both spoke in favor of holding winter athletics. Lavoine said his organization has been operating safely out of Collins-Moylan Arena in Greenfield for three months, and that modifications required by the state have been followed by players and families. Greenfield is the host school for the region’s high school hockey cooperative program, which includes the likes of Turners Falls, Franklin Tech, Frontier, Athol, Smith Academy, Pioneer and Mahar.
Hoffman said that while she has heard from many in the community regarding winter sports, letters have come in from both sides of the topic.
“I’ve had parents write, just so you know, for and against sports,” she offered. “There’s a big outcry of how everyone wants sports but I want people to know there are two sides.”
The Mohawk Trail Regional School Committee was originally scheduled to vote on winter sports during Wednesday’s meeting, but decided to table the vote until a later meeting, likely Dec. 21.
“With the MIAA and EEA guidelines being updated later this week, this could and likely will impact our ability to offer the sport of basketball,” athletic director Greg Vouros said on pushing the vote back. “Modifications can change things so that’s where we stand on basketball at this time.”
Instead, the committee discussed just the ski season Wednesday, leaving basketball for a future debate. With a 15-0 vote, the committee voted to approve Nordic ski and alpine ski, beginning Jan. 4. The board left open the possibility to push back the date.
• Also on Wednesday, the MIAA Board of Directors (BOD) met virtually, stating that the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) informed them that it is still up to local districts to decide which sports can be played this winter in their respective districts. This comes on the heels of Governor Baker rolling the state back to Phase 3, Step 1 on Tuesday.
As for spectators at sporting events, the EEA is planning to release an update this week coinciding with Baker’s announcement.
Another note from Wednesday’s meeting included that the present EEA guidance for sports does not include the requirement that areas in the “red” for three weeks cannot play high risk sports, a change from the fall season.
One item voted on by the BOD was to allow roster size for the basketball season to be at 15, instead of 12. With EEA guidance stating that only 12 players from each team can be on the court at one time, if a team decides to have 15 pla yers on its roster, three playe rs will have to stretch on the side or not participate in warmups. They would be allowed to rotate in, with another player coming off.
Each individual league can decide whether to keep the EEA’s guidance of 12 per team, or go with the BOD and allow for 15 player rosters.