By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
During a virtual meeting on Thursday, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Board of Control upheld its earlier decision to start preseason practice in five fall sports on Monday with competition beginning the week of Sept. 7.
The board voted 16-2 in favor of its original plan that affects the sports of football, soccer, volleyball, cross country and field hockey. Golf, the only fall sport not postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, began competition on July 31.
Two optional plans that would have postponed starting competition until Sept. 28 were voted down by board members during the virtual meeting that had thousands of online viewers.
There’s no guarantee that the KHSAA plan will be approved by the Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Department of Health or the governor’s office.
At the start of the Thursday morning meeting, KHSAA commissioner Julian Tackett told board members, “Nothing today is absolute final in terms of all criteria.”
During a press conference Thursday afternoon, Gov. Andy Beshear was asked about the KHSAA Board of Control voting in favor of starting sports competition on Sept. 7.
“I’m going to take some time and think it through,” Beshear said. “I’ll certainly be thinking about safety first and foremost. I believe a student-athlete is a student first and an athlete second.”
The governor went on to say he was surprised that the board voted to move ahead with its original plan while the virus is still prevalent across the state.
“Let’s remember as we go through this, and I know this will be a hot topic amongst parents, that we are still in the midst of a pandemic and we still don’t know the long-term effects it can have on people’s health,” Beshear said.
The governor recommended that Kentucky schools wait until Sept. 28 to start in-person learning in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus. Public school systems across the state agreed to that, but four diocesan school districts started classes this week.
Jefferson County Public Schools superintendent Marty Pollio said earlier this week that the KHSAA could have problems keeping its current plan given Beshear’s recommended date to open schools.
After the Board of Control voted against a motion to postpone the first day of sports competition until after all schools are in session, Covington Independent Schools superintendent Alvin Garrison said some school districts, including his own, could vote not to compete until after Sept. 28.
“We know that there is a desire on the part of public health that we comply with the current recommendation to not start school until the 28th (of September),” Tackett said. “But we also know our local boards of education have independent decision-making authority and some of them are ready to go now. So that’s the challenge that we find ourselves in today.”
If the state government does not approve the KHSAA’s current plan, the Board of Control will schedule another meeting to consider alternatives.
Tackett said there will be attendance restrictions and mask requirements for high school sports events whenever they do start. He plans to release outlines for those plans in the coming days.
The current limits for each sport during the regular season are 14 games for soccer, 24 matches for volleyball, nine games for football and nine meets for cross country. All of those teams can begin conducting full regular preseason practice sessions on Monday without restrictions that were put into place earlier this summer due to the pandemic. Athletes will be limited to 7.5 hours of practice time during the first week.
At Thursday’s meeting, the board also voted to:
* Suspend restrictions so high school students can play basketball for AAU or other non-school teams until the start of high school practice, which for now is set for Oct. 15.
* Approve dance and cheer division declarations until Nov. 9 and schedule regional competition on the weekends of Jan. 16 and Jan. 23.