Most Midlands school districts are suspending sports workouts as COVID-19 cases spike
Almost all Midlands school districts are pumping the brakes on summer sports workouts as new coronavirus cases around the state continue to soar.
Lexington 1 and Lexington 2 announced Tuesday that they’re halting summer workouts, which began on June 22. The two districts join Richland 1, Richland 2 Lexington-Richland 5 and Saluda, which stopped summer workouts (or delayed their start) over the last few days.
Lexington 1 said it will revisit things on July 20 while other districts haven’t said about potential restart dates.
“The information we received from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control lists Richland County’s rate of COVID-19 cases as high, so we feel it’s prudent to postpone workouts and other pre-season athletics activities at this time,” Richland 1 Superintendent Dr. Craig Witherspoon said Monday in a release.
Gray Collegiate, Kershaw County Schools and S.C. Independent Schools such as Hammond, Cardinal Newman, Ben Lippen and Heathwood Hall continue with their workouts. But Gray and most of the SCISA schools weren’t practicing this week because of the July 4 holiday.
On Tuesday there were a record 1,741 new COVID-19 infections in South Carolina announced by the Department of Environmental Control. The Palmetto State has been at or above record daily coronavirus case counts over the last three weeks, one indicator that the virus’ activity is increasing.
“We are being proactive and keeping the safety of our student-athletes and staff at the forefront,” Lexington-Richland 5 Director of Secondary Education Al Pressley said in release. “Like other districts and groups, we will continue to monitor the situation, work closely with state officials and make the best decisions possible.”
South Carolina public schools got the go-ahead to begin workouts on June 8. But since then, many districts have pulled the plug or delayed the start of workouts, including Greenville, Beaufort, Fairfield, Newberry, Orangeburg, Georgetown, Chesterfield, Pickens, Oconee, Dorchester, Charleston and Laurens counties.
Horry and Darlington counties will be halting workouts beginning after July 2.
The increase in the number of cases has put the start of fall sports seasons in South Carolina in jeopardy. SCHSL commissioner Jerome Singleton said Thursday that he isn’t optimistic about playing sports in the fall unless things change with the trajectory of COVID-19 cases in the state.
Singleton said Monday the SCHSL had no plans to shut things down throughout the state, allowing each district to continue to make those decisions.
The first date for high school football games is set for Aug. 20.
“I’m very concerned,” Singleton said. “The numbers indicate that there is constantly a growing number of positive cases. We thought those originally were affecting those 60 years or older. Now, the indication, the people that are most affected are ages 15 to 25, and those are our students. … If changes don’t come into place, it will be very hard to put any of our fall sports seasons together.”
Singleton said he and his staff are exploring various options in the hopes of having sports played in the fall. An unlikely option would be moving fall sports to the spring and putting spring sports such as baseball, soccer and lacrosse in the fall.
Other options include shortening a sport’s regular season and decreasing the amount of teams and rounds in the playoffs, which would allow for the flexibility of starting the season later while still crowning champions.
Spring Valley football coach Robin Bacon thinks there needs to be discussion now about possible backup plans to save the fall sports season, if it comes to that. Bacon posted a message on Twitter aimed at the state’s high school coaches.
Bacon said a meeting is planned this week with the state’s football coaches association about possible scenarios or tweeks to fall football schedule.
“Attn SC HS Head Football Coaches. We need to get together & start working on a Plan B & C for a football season. Let’s not wait; let’s start leading the discussion. We need to do this 4 the kids. They deserve it. Time is of the essence. Late Fall, Winter or Spring #SaveHSfootball,” Bacon tweeted Saturday.
This story was originally published June 27, 2020 at 5:48 PM.
