Not-so-random: football proposal

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

This week’s edition of Random Thoughts centers around a proposal sent from the Central District Football Coaches Association to the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

The proposal would swap many fall sports with spring sports, while not addressing winter sports. It has almost no chance of gaining approval by the OHSAA Board of Directors, but if it somehow does, it seems as thought it would create more problems that it would solve.

Overlap

Let’s start with football practices starting on February 1.

That alone doesn’t seem like a good idea, simply because actual temperatures and wind chills in Ohio in February can and do dip below zero, not to mention the possibility/probability of snow, and lots of it.

An even bigger issue is overlapping of sports.

League and conference basketball title races usually are in full swing in early February and sectional tournament draws are right around the corner. Wrestlers are busy at dual meets and regular season tournaments while getting ready for the postseason.

Explain how these student-athletes are supposed to juggle basketball practices and games and wrestling matches with football practices and scrimmages.

Under this proposal, the regular season would kick off on February 26. Again, what about kids who participate in winter sports? What about schools whose basketball teams qualify for district competition and what about wrestlers who advance in the postseason while still maintaining weight?

The proposal also calls for a six-week regular season. That part isn’t bad. After all, a six-game schedule is better than nothing. After six weeks, a seven-week postseason would begin and all teams would qualify. I’m not so sure about that, but I do understand things are different and flexibility is a must.

Finally, the proposal calls for a seven-week regular season in 2021, with games starting in mid-September. I’m not sure how appealing that really is.

Other sports

Under the proposal, baseball, softball and volleyball would be played in the fall, along with track and field, while soccer and cross country would shift to the spring.

I know volleyball, softball and track-and-field would be impacted by this, as student-athletes at many schools, especially smaller schools, participate in two of those sports.

Proactive

The coaches who submitted the proposal are being proactive and you can’t blame them for that. You can even argue that in some ways it’s well intentioned in the fact that the coaches are looking for a way to salvage the football season.

However, as mentioned before, this particular proposal creates more questions than answers.

What now?

Good question.

New Mexico has already agreed to push football to the spring, while New Jersey will delay the start of fall sports to October 1.

A number of scenarios are possible here in Ohio – a full season, a shortened season, no season, or a swap of some seasons. We should find out sooner rather than later.

If you have any thoughts on the fall sports season and possible scenarios, including what you think might be best, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com.