DENVER — The decision has been made: High school football will not be played in Colorado this fall.
The Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) Board of Directors at a meeting Tuesday night unanimously voted to not reconsider any adjustment to the 2020-21 sports calendar.
The announcement comes a day after Gov. Jared Polis had made comments at a news conference saying he would support fall football.
CHSAA had originally adjusted the sports and activities calendar on Aug. 4 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. In that adjustment, CHSAA approved just four sports — boys tennis, boys golf, cross country and softball — to be played this fall.
"We understand that our school communities would like to return to all levels of normalcy," said Troy Baker, president of CHSAA's Board of Directors and athletic director at Buena Vista High School. "We listened to all parties and the voices of our membership resonated strongly to support the plan as approved in August. The plan aligns with the CHSAA mission. All students have an opportunity to play a season during the 2020-21 school year."
Polis released the following statement not long after CHSAA's decision was announced:
“I have said from the beginning that it will take all of us - people at home, local communities, governments, businesses, and organizations working together to crush the spread of this virus. Our administration was looking forward to allowing more student-athletes to begin their season this Fall, but if the CHSAA board unanimously agrees that they should delay their season until the Spring in an effort to ensure that they are better prepared to protect the safety of student-athletes then our administration fully respects that decision. The important thing is that every CHSAA sanctioned athletic team sport will occur this school year giving kids the opportunity to learn important skills by participating in team sports.”
Richard Hargrove, superintendent of Springfield Schools and a member of the Board of Directors said, "We are focused on getting school started and running smoothly, as well as handling all the issues of running a school district and trying to have that be as normal as possible. We do not want to travel. The biggest thing for me in the end is that we have continued to move the goalposts, and every time we turned around, we had something else we had to adjust to.
"The discussion last night amplified that there was another potential goalpost movement," Hargrove continued. "We have already developed a calendar that addresses the concerns of health officials, and gives all students a season and a chance to participate. We need to move forward with that plan.”
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