Fate of fall sports hangs in the balance

The Georgia High School Association board was to meet Monday afternoon to discuss the fate of fall sports and LC coaches are holding their collective breaths. Fall sports include football, softball, cheerleading, cross county and volleyball at the high school and middle school levels.Trojan football coach Jeff Sloan, whose team is coming off its best season in several years, is ready to tee it up. His summer workouts have attracted good numbers and have been intense.’According to the information GHSA has released, they were to discuss the upcoming season and had no plans to vote on anything. Hopefully they will come up with some answers as we are getting close,’ Sloan said. He will serve as LC athletic director for the 2020-21 academic year.Veteran baseball coach Mike Oberg stepped down as AD to add girls softball to his responsibilities. He returns a talent-laden roster and is ready to get on the field. He is aware of one plan to swap the spring and fall seasons. ‘I don’t think the flip is likely. What is most likely, in my opinion, is they will do as Louisiana and South Carolina have and push the seasons back to a September start,’ Oberg said.School superintendent Jute Wilson was among those touting the spring-fall switch. ‘GHSA has held firm on their effort to move forward with fall sports as is. I, for one, asked GHSA and other districts to consider flipping fall and spring sports,’ Wilson said.He noted travel baseball and softball have gone on all summer without many issues. Spring sports can more easily be conducted with distancing in place in the stands and on the field.’Losing football gates (admissions and concessions revenue) would be detrimental to athletic departments from middle school to the college level. It parallels school reopening. GHSA has to make some tough decisions that impact the masses that, in the end, none of us are crazy about. We all want a normal school day with everyone present and all fall sports playing as usual. But that is not going to happen. We will make the best of what we have to deal with and keep moving forward,’ Wilson concluded.