Plans approved for high school sports and activities

The Wyoming High School Activities Association (WHSAA) announced that the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) has approved their plans for beginning basketball and wrestling on time. The format from the fall sports was used to provide protocols for students to safely participate in these two sports.

Practices are scheduled to begin on Monday, November 23, 2020.

“We continue to learn, monitor and adjust as we navigate through the current pandemic,” said WHSAA Commissioner, Ron Laird. “We appreciate that the WDH understands the importance of our activities in enhancing the educational experience of our students. Safety is still our number one priority.”

“With these two sports being indoors and considered contact sports, it will provide new challenges for all involved. This will again take a concerted effort, and the goal, as it has been this fall, will be to be able to successfully complete the seasons. We believe the recommended restrictions will enhance our opportunity to achieve that goal,” Laird continued.

The WHSAA Board of Directors will be evaluating options for the culminating events at their next Board Meeting on September 29, 2020.

The WHSAA also announced that Fine Arts and Vocational Education activities are all moving forward.

“The Fine Arts and Vocational Education programs provide many opportunities for our students to foster leadership and learn lifelong skills that will benefit those students in future years,” said WHSAA Commissioner, Ron Laird. “The activities side of the WHSAA is another arena that serves several of our Wyoming students in a positive manner.”

“This past year, 67% of our high school students participated in at least one activity or sport. Our schools do an outstanding job of providing these opportunities as they understand the benefits our students realize by being involved and connected to the schools,” Laird continued.

Each activity has a different challenge as they prepare for their events. The one advantage that several of the activities have is the opportunity to continue in a virtual setting and still provide an educational experience for their students.

Coaches are currently working with local health officials to successfully complete the winter season, which includes making plans for using various equipment, how to safely use the facilities for both athletes and spectators and how to safely hold practices.

Basketball and wrestling will use the WHSAA Smart Start Guidelines for practices, which includes temperature screenings, face covering and individual hygiene (hand washing) of all participants.

In addition, the WHSAA wants workouts and practices to be done in “pods” of the same players as much as possible and social distancing used when appropriate.

As far as the events themselves, the Smart Start Guidelines will also be used at all schools across the state, just as they have been used for golf, volleyball and football this fall.

Whether or not there is a regional or state tournament for these two sports will be determined later.

Sports are not the only things facing changes due to COVID-19, activities such as State Marching Band, District Music Clinics, Student Council Convention, Drama and Speech and Debate are all effected as well.

At this point, State Marching Band will hold a virtual festival and each district will decide if and how they will hold the clinics. For All State Music, auditions will take place virtually, but the January event will be decided on later.

All of the Fall Summits for Student Council have been cancelled and the November date for their State Convention has been postponed. The WHSAA is looking at options for a possible spring date or a virtual convention.

State Drama will be held virtually this year.

With speech and debate, November and December will be virtual tournaments only. The WHSAA will evaluate what the remainder of the season will look like with the remote possibility of in-person meets later in the season. Reservations for the State Speech Tournament are made in Riverton in the event they are able to have it in-person. Otherwise, it will be a virtual meet similar to last year.

FFA will be hosting the Chapter Presidents Conference but not the FIRE conference in November. They will be limiting the numbers. With judging contests they are also looking at limiting the numbers at the various events. As for State Conference, they are still evaluating options.