Two Midlands districts put winter sports on hold with COVID cases, concerns rising
Richland 1 and 2 school districts are shutting down winter sports competition for the next three weeks.
Richland 1 made its announcement Monday evening a few hours after Richland 2 told its schools about the change. Richland 1 announced earlier Monday it was going to virtual learning Jan. 4-15 but was going to allow teams to play during the Christmas break but changed its course.
Both school districts won’t allow its teams to compete in winter sports basketball and wrestling until Jan. 4. Cheerleading teams can continue to practice because the state’s competitive cheer championships are scheduled for Saturday in Florence.
The move affects Richland 1 schools AC Flora, Dreher, CA Johnson, Columbia, Eau Claire, Lower Richland and Keenan as well as the district’s middle schools. Richland 2 schools affected were its five high schools — Richland Northeast, Ridge View, Westwood, Blythewood and Spring Valley — as well as the district’s middle schools.
Both districts said the teams could practice twice a week during the break between games.
Conditioning for spring sports also will be halted until Jan. 18.
The move to halt sports is being done as the state navigates a record spike in new COVID-19 cases. The district will go to eLearning for all students from Jan. 4-15 with in-person instruction resuming Jan. 19.
Some S.C. districts and schools have already made winter sports decisions. Sumter County, Orangeburg County, Manning, Marlboro County, Cane Bay and Colleton County have shut down high school sports until January, hoping that COVID-19 numbers will go down. Sports at Bishop England High in Charleston are on hold indefinitely with the school going to all-virtual classes. Florence One Schools announced it will shut down athletic activities from Dec. 24 through Jan. 3. Practices can resume Jan. 4, and games Jan. 11.
Lee Central and Ridgeland-Hardeeville high schools didn’t play fall sports and won’t play winter sports either.
Basketball programs in the Midlands and around South Carolina are being affected by COVID in the first weeks of the 2020-21 season with games being canceled or postponed, or full programs on pause. Richland 2 teams currently paused because of coronavirus protocols include Spring Valley girls, Blythewood boys and Westwood boys.
Other Midlands teams currently in quarantine include the A.C. Flora boys, Dutch Fork boys, Chapin girls, Brookland-Cayce boys, Dreher girls, Pelion boys and Gray Collegiate boys.
Basketball programs already adjusted their 2020-21 schedules and reduced the amount of games being played. In a normal year, public schools can schedule up to 27 games, but this year most teams are trying to play between 14 and 18 contests with region games taking top priority because they determine playoff seeding.
Last week, there were 394 public school varsity basketball games scheduled with about 170 of them canceled or postponed, according to the South Carolina High School League.
Heathwood Hall announced Monday it was canceling its Home Pest Control Holiday Tournament, which was scheduled for Friday-Saturday. The Cayce Roundball Classic at Brookland-Cayce also announced Tuesday it was canceled.
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 3:20 PM.
