Play Ball: AAPS clears the way to begin Winter Contact Sports

Terry Jacoby
February 11, 2021, 4 years ago

While most of the state of Michigan began high school winter contact sports on Monday, the Ann Arbor Public Schools temporarily decided to hold off allowing the players to hit the ice, court and mat. But the delay was only 48 hours to allow for safety protocols to be put in place and make sure conditions were satisfactory to begin playing contact sports.

Now, it’s game on for basketball, wrestling, hockey and competitive cheer.

And teams can’t wait to get running, skating, pinning and cheering. In fact, the Skyline boys’ basketball team has games scheduled for Thursday (at Father Gabriel Richard), Friday at home against Monroe and are trying to line up a game for Saturday. And then comes rivalry week for the Eagles with games on Tuesday (at Pioneer) and next Friday (home vs. Huron).

Pioneer’s hockey game against Dexter will hit the ice at 4 p.m. on Thursday (Feb. 10) at the Ice Cube.

Both the girls and boys basketball games scheduled for Friday between Pioneer and Huron have been moved to a later date. The Pioneer girls’ team will open on Monday vs. Lincoln with JV at 5:30 p.m. and varsity at 7 p.m.

Per an announcement last week by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), Michigan High School Athletic Association member schools were allowed to begin full practice activities in the Winter contact sports of girls and boys basketball, competitive cheer, ice hockey and wrestling on Monday, Feb. 8, with some precautions to continue limiting the spread of COVID-19.

Competition in those four sports also will begin this week. In fact, there are games already scheduled for Monday night. Basketball and hockey are able to play Feb. 8 and cheer and wrestling are able to compete starting Feb. 12.

Those four Winter contact sports have been able to practice since Jan. 16, but only with non-contact activities. MHSAA Tournament dates for all four sports previously were rescheduled into late March and early April to accommodate a later start to the regular season, and those dates appear below. All four Winter contact sports also must participate with some level of masking and/or rapid testing, also detailed sport-by-sport below.

All testing will be coordinated between schools and MDHHS or their local health departments. Following are specific precautions and key dates for those contact sports at the high school level. Participants are defined as athletes, coaches and other team personnel active in practice and competition. For the sports detailed below, regular-season contests may be played up until the date of the MHSAA Finals in that sport.

Girls Basketball

Masking/testing: All participants must wear face coverings at all times – during all practices and non-game activities, and during games. A testing requirement may allow participants to remove masks while in active participation on the floor if they test negative that game day; more details will be provided to schools when confirmed.

Competition limit: Teams may play up to three games per week, Monday through Sunday.

First contest: Feb. 8

Districts: March 22, 24, 26

Regionals: March 29, 31

Quarterfinals: April 5

Semifinals: April 7

Finals: April 9

Boys Basketball

Competition limit: Teams may play up to three games per week, Monday through Sunday.

First contest: Feb. 8

Districts: March 23, 25, 27

Regionals: March 30, April 1

Quarterfinals: April 6

Semifinals: April 8

Finals: April 10

Competitive Cheer

Masking/testing: Teams may compete without testing or face coverings, but must wear masks at all times outside of active competition or stunting/tumbling practice.

Competition limit: Teams may participate in 12 days of competition, not counting MHSAA Tournament events.

First contest: Feb. 12

Districts: March 15-20

Regionals: March 22-24

Finals: March 26-27

Ice Hockey

Masking/testing: All participants must wear face coverings at all times – during all practices and non-game activities, and during games. A testing requirement may allow participants to remove masks while in active participation on the ice if they test negative that game day; more details will be provided to schools when confirmed.

Competition limit: Teams may play up to three games per week, Monday through Sunday. Teams also may play two games on one non-school day twice; during those two weeks, teams are allowed up to four games Monday through Sunday.

First contest: Feb. 8

Regionals: March 15-20

Quarterfinals: March 23

Semifinals: March 25-26

Finals: March 27

Wrestling

Masking/testing: Testing is required for wrestling, but competitors will not be required to wear face coverings.

Competition limit: Teams may compete two days per week, Monday through Sunday, with no more than four teams at a site (with each individual competing in up to three matches per day.)

First contest: Feb. 12

Districts: March 15-20

Regionals: March 22-28

Team Finals: March 30

Individual Finals: April 2-3

The same masking and testing requirements will be in place for all junior high/middle school teams wishing to participate in the four Winter contact sports.

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.

[MHSAA]