MHSAA Postpones Football Season, Questions Linger About Volleyball and Swim and Dive

Nearly 100 Saline High School student-athletes spent the week on the turf under the hot, training for a football season they knew might not take place.  

Friday afternoon, they learned the Michigan High School Athletic Association, which runs high school sports, has pulled the plug on the fall football season. Instead, the MHSAA is planning to squeeze football into the spring sports season. 

“At the end of the day, we did everything we could to find a path forward for football this fall,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “But while continuing to connect with the Governor’s office, state health department officials, our member schools’ personnel and the Council, there is just too much uncertainty and too many unknowns to play football this fall. No one is willing to take the risk of COVID being passed on because of a high-risk sport. Decisions have to be made on our other sports as well, but none of those carry the same close, consistent, and face-to-face contact as football.”

Details about the spring football season will be announced in the next few months, according to the MHSAA.

The decision is no surprise for the staff and players in the Saline High School football program. The season was set to begin Aug. 27 against Hudsonville High School but after practice yesterday, head coach Joe Palka talked about preparing for football during a "surreal" environment.

"We don't know if we're to be playing this fall or not. But if we are, we want our kids to be ready," Palka said.

24 hours later, Palka had his answer.  He canceled Saturday's practice, but for now, Palka is planning to resume practice on Monday - the day the players are scheduled to strap on the pads for the first time.

Senior offensive lineman Kyler Blake-Jones found a silver lining.

For now, according to the  MHSAA, other fall sports will go on as planned but the fate of girls volleyball and girls swim and dive remains unclear. Saline and many other schools are operating in a region under "phase four" of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's MI Safe Start Plan. That means indoor sports are not permitted here. The Saline girls volleyball team, for instance, has been practicing at the Saline Rec Center's sand lots. The MHSAA said further guidancefrom Gov. Whitmer's office is expected in the near future. The Michigan Water Polo Association had previously announced the boys' season would be postponed until the spring of 2021.

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