Iowa Neighbor Delays HS Football & Volleyball Season Until Spring
In the midst of a pandemic it's clear: no two visions are the same. That's the case for Iowa's neighbors to the north, Minnesota, who have no delayed the high school football season until the spring of 2021, ending one of the great fall rites of passage. This
AM 950 KOEL's sister station KROC-AM in Rochester, MN reports the Minnesota State High School League Board of Directors held a virtual meeting and overwhelmingly voted on Tuesday to move the high school football and volleyball season to the spring, which is the end of the school year. Regarding football, the resolution eliminates scrimmages and calls for a reduced schedule of games when the season finally begins. There was no decision on playoffs.
Recently here in Iowa, the Iowa High School Athletic Association made the choice to allow each school to make adjustments during the COVID-19 pandemic as needed, however, the plan is still to go ahead with a season this fall; albeit a shorter one in which every team makes the playoffs. Instead of nine weeks, for 2020 there will be a seven-week regular season. Teams will have the option of scheduling five, six, or seven games within those seven weeks and, as mentioned above, all teams in all classes will qualify for the postseason.
In this upcoming school year one thing is clear, it is far from 'one size fits all' for the Midwest.