SALT LAKE CITY — Jordan School District officials are considering district-level competitions for spring high school sports athletes whose seasons came to an abrupt end as another casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The proposal comes as student-athletes statewide have launched a “Let Us Play” campaign urging the Utah High School Activities Association to reinstate the spring sports season that was canceled on April 14 after Gov. Gary Herbert and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sydnee Dickson announced that Utah public schools would be closed to in-person learning for the remainder of the school year.
A YouTube video featuring students repeating the message “Let us play” has been viewed more 23,800 times.
“I don’t know the status of that (campaign). Of course if the governor reinstated anything like that we’d go along with whatever program was put in place by UHSAA,” Jordan School District Superintendent Anthony Godfrey told the district’s board of education on Tuesday.
Rob Cuff, executive director of the Utah High School Activities Association, said the athletes’ petition to reinstate play “has caught the attention of our board and they would really like to talk about it. We haven’t had a chance to have a meeting on that yet.”
The association’s board of trustees is scheduled to meet Tuesday when it will discuss the petition, Cuff said.
“If nothing happens along those lines, what we’ve talked about is putting together a Jordan School District summer games or my preferred name for it, the ‘Superintendent’s Cup,’” Godfrey said.
He is also considering setting up a similar schedule for other canceled activities such as debate, music or performing arts.
According to preliminary plans, each of the district’s high schools would be in charge of a certain spring sport or sports competitions, Godfrey said.
A 10-day conditioning period would precede competition, which Godfrey said would span two or three weeks.
“That’s the minimum (conditioning period) required by UHSAA so you don’t risk injury. You always risk injury but you reduce the risk of injury by having a period of conditioning that leads up to that. All of this, of course, is contingent on whether social distancing rules in the county and in the state would allow for this kind of competition some time this summer,” Godfrey said.
It’s unclear when the events would occur and it is also uncertain if some schools would be able to field enough athletes given other things that families and students may be doing if social distancing directives are relaxed, he said,
Club sports teams that practice and play on district grounds in summer months have expressed concerns that the district’s summer games might overlap with their programs.
Another concern is obtaining insurance since the competition would not be sanctioned by UHSAA, Godfrey said.
“Our issue is not actually being able to afford insurance, it’s being able to find someone who’s willing to insure this type of event. What we may need to do is simply be prepared to shoulder the cost of injuries that would be incurred. So we’re still working through that and I would bring that figure back to the board,” he said.
Cuff said athletes and events are covered by the state’s risk management pool during regular season play and the association carries coverage for postseason play. The association does not sanction events that occur after the last day of school or graduations, he said.
Jordan officials said June appears to be the district’s best option for a window of opportunity for the games, although the activities association has a moratorium on practices, competitions, meetings and travel from June 28 through July 4.
Jordan School Board member Marilyn Richards, who also serves on the UHSAA board of trustees, said trustees plan to meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
“I think we’ll be making some decisions then about sports. It’s the only item on the agenda so we’ll come away from there with something that will probably help us in the district,” she said.
Jordan School Board member Matt Young said he hopes that as fall sports teams start gearing up for their seasons this summer that they will be considerate of spring sport athletes whose seasons were cut short.
“I would hope that given what our spring sports athletes have experienced that our fall sports powers that be would give some grace and allow for that experience without shouldering too much of grudge. ... I would hope that we not hear a single piece of pushback on something like that,” he said.
Jordan School Board President Bryce Dunford concurred: “The fall sports, they got to play this school year. They had their full calendar. They got to play and the spring sports got denied that, so I echo that.”