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The Virginia High School League has delayed from March 16 to March 30 the date of the first public high school sporting events in Virginia, organization officials announced today following a meeting of the VHSL Crisis Management Committee in Charlottesville.
The outdoor track championships, tennis championships, and the VHSL Spring Jubilee – all scheduled for later this year – will not be affected by the delay. All spring championships are still scheduled on their original dates. The Crisis Management Committee will meet again March 25 to re-evaluate conditions.
“After continuing to assess the impact of COVID-19 we convened the VHSL Crisis Management Committee and it was decided that the best course of action and most prudent at this time was to delay spring sports first play date by two weeks," VHSL Executive Director Dr. John W. “Billy” Haun said. "The VHSL continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 and will continue discussions with public health officials and key stakeholders.”
During the two-week delay to the start of the spring sports season, local school divisions will have the authority to schedule spring practices. Any game not played due to this delay, or a school division not being allowed to travel, will not count as a forfeit.
The Crisis Management Committee also made decisions related to several VHSL academic activities:
• Forensics – Championships will be postponed to Saturday, May 2 at Clover Hill High School.
Schools must confirm entries by April 10 at noon. Alternates must be confirmed by this date in case there are call-ups. Hotel rooms for March 27-28 may be released, and new hotel information will be posted on the VHSL Forensics website by Wednesday, March 18.
• Debate –The state championships are planned to be held at Randolph-Macon College on Friday and Saturday, April 24-25. Regions and Super Regions are encouraged to postpone their scheduled events, beyond published deadlines, to allow schools that had indicated they would not be able to participate, to now reconsider that based on new dates if possible. Legislation deadlines for both Region and Super Region will be extended to April 16 until we are notified of a new date selected by the Region or Super Region. A postponement of the state event will be reevaluated as new information becomes available in the next two weeks.
• Film Festival – Due to school closings, the deadline for film submission will be extended to 11:59pm, Wednesday, April 8. Finalists will be announced on Friday, May 8.
• Student leaders conference – Currently is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 24-25. A final decision on holding the Student Leaders Conference will be made by March 25.
