DeWine green lights HS football, soccer

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

CEDARVILLE — Governor Mike DeWine made a long-awaited announcement from his home in Cedarville on Tuesday – all OHSAA fall sports may be played, including contact sports.

The order will officially go into effect on Friday and COVID-19 testing will not be mandatory for student-athletes to participate.

Golf and girls’ tennis began earlier this month and those sports will be joined by volleyball and cross country, along with contact sports – soccer, football and field hockey.

However, there are a couple of caveats contained in DeWine’s pending order, which was discussed at length by the governor, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, the Ohio High School Athletic Association and medical experts.

Only family members and people very close to student-athletes, marching band members, cheerleaders and coaches will be able to attend games and matches. It will be up to schools to decide who qualifies and Husted said site inspectors will be used to ensure attendance rules and health regulations are being followed properly. Husted also said failure to comply with state guidelines could lead to forfeitures.

“It’s not going to be your typical Friday night football in Ohio,” DeWine said during Tuesday’s press briefing. “But the young people are going to get to play.”

DeWine also said schools are allowed to push fall sports to the spring if they so choose. It’s expected schools in the state’s metro areas will at least explore that option, but locally, Northwest Conference, Western Buckeye League, Green Meadows Conference and Midwest Athletic Conference schools are expected to play football and soccer as currently scheduled.

“These are all tough decisions,” DeWine said of schools possibly shifting fall sports to the spring months. “There’s not necessarily a right or wrong answer.”

“Our order will provide that all sports may go forward, and we will lay out a road map to make it as safe as possible,” the governor added. “My hope is to have a season that will inspire our young people to conduct themselves in a way 24/7 to be as careful as possible. I also hope and trust that coaches use this as an opportunity to do everything they can to keep COVID-19 out of the team.”

“The OHSAA is moving forward because we want kids to have an opportunity to participate, and the Governor’s Office is providing that opportunity and a chance,” Bob Goldring, OHSAA Interim Executive Director said after DeWine’s announcement. “So for that we are most appreciative. It’s important to remember that our student-athletes have been practicing and training with others for weeks and even months, and it has gone well. So, we believe they deserve the chance to move forward, and that the high school space is also different than the collegiate space.”

Soccer is scheduled to begin as early as this Friday, with football kicking off on Friday, August 28.