OSAA says there will be no state championships for football, volleyball, soccer, cross country
By René Ferrán
The OSAA Executive Board decided at its Wednesday work session not to conduct any state championship events for Season 2 sports, including football, volleyball, boys and girls soccer, and boys and girls cross country.
Instead, the OSAA decided to allow schools and districts to coordinate and execute local or regional culminating events. The board adjusted participation limitations to allow for additional contests in each activity for culminating-week events.
In a news release, the OSAA said the Executive Board “does not want to put any undue pressure on schools to participate in a statewide event that could potentially place their students and school community at risk. … The group felt that requiring schools to travel across the state with the potential for overnight stays for events is not prudent at this time.”
The Executive Board considered the logistics of holding a large-scale event such as a state cross country meet during a pandemic, with gathering size restrictions based on county risk level capacity limits and district-adopted travel restrictions. It also anticipated issues with establishing equitable qualifying procedures since some schools will not start their seasons on time, while others might have their seasons shortened by COVID-19 outbreaks.
The Executive Board did not make any decisions regarding culminating weeks for Seasons 3 and 4, which will take place later this year. It also reaffirmed its support for conducting virtual events for many OSAA-sponsored activities, including cheerleading, dance and drill, solo music, band, orchestra, choir and speech.
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