NMAA APPR0OVES CALENDAR

If this is correct, while approximately 38 other states are winding down their 3-sport high school fall schedules, the New Mexico Activities Association’s board of directors has approved the latest sports calendar for what remains of the 2020-21 academic year.

After other calendars have been falling by the wayside in these times of the coronavirus pandemic, this one has been approved unanimously, with February 22nd as the target date. By George, that would be George Washington’s birthday and the start of football, volleyball and cross country, what would be followed on March 1 for girls and boys soccer.

But the schedules will have limitations. The word is that football will be down to five games, soccer to 10, and basketball to an even dozen. No announcements yet on volleyball or cross country, but state tournaments would be drastically altered, and perhaps calling for on-campus quarterfinal and semifinal games, and with championship events at neutral sites.

On Monday, the state’s schoolboy football teams donned helmets, and added shoulder pads today. But it is unclear if the NMAA intends to allow playoffs for football. The state’s coaches have been polled on the subject while info has been collected from athletic directors. The board had discussed the matter at recent meetings in length, and as of Monday, had not reached a conclusion.

Said NMAA Executive Director Sally Marquez: “Sorry, but nothing is the same as it has been in the past. These times are different, and so it won’t be that volleyball, for instance, is going to played at Rio Rancho’s Santa Ana Star Center on four courts. That’s not how playoffs are going to be.”

She did add that cross country would be spread over two days, and with heavily staggered starts, as well as all sports events, from preseason practices now to regular-season games and state championships, and athletes and coaches would be required to wear face masks at all times while events are in progress.

As for allowed turnouts for fans, it has been proposed to state leaders to allow 25 percent capacity, although counting them won’t cut it. As of Monday, though, Marquez said she hadn’t gotten any feedback from the public education department or the governor’s office regarding spectators. This doesn’t include pertaining to the media.

But the public education department did inform schools last week that they could start hybrid in-person classes as soon as February 8th, and informed the schools that they are required to be in session for two weeks before sports could return on February 22nd.And the NMAA has responded by tabling a decision to adopt the same calendar it approved Monday.

As for the helmets and pads, COVID-19 sanitation guidelines prohibit schools from storing the gear in locker rooms, and traditional team-gathering spots that include dugouts for baseball and softball are prohibited until further notice. And so storage of the equipment would have to be up to the school districts.

“Also,” Marquez said, “She cautions that this equipment does not go home because of these issues, that you never know what kids are going to do in their back yard, and at the park when they have that equipment.”

She added that February 15th would be the deadline for schools to decide whether they would field teams for traditional sports, and that there would be no penalty for anyone opting out, and that schools could join seasons late as long at they made the declaration to participate. And she cited logistics for setting schedules, organizing officials, and aligning districts for setting a deadline.

“Our goal is to let kids play,” she said, “even if it’s a few games we’d like it to happen.”

In Santa Fe, head coaches Bill Moon of Capital High, Andrew Martinez of Santa Fe High, and Joey Fernandez of St. Michael’s, have already issued helmet and pads, turned workouts into pods of players, and can hardly wait for the first kickoff.

No word from Santa Fe Indian School, which goes by its own rules and not of the public schools. But It will not participate in volleyball or cross country, although its girls and boys distance runners will be allowed to compete for district schools they reside it, which are in  Santa Fe, Pojoaque, Espanola, Rio Rancho, and Bernalillo.

It has also been cautioned against taking a gander at other states that have been already been participating and comparing their situation to what New Mexicans have faced since the state’s officials shut down sports last March. In other words, to copy somewhere or someone else is not always a good idea.

To learn more, the realization for those in theLand of Enchantment, its policies are different from other states. Participating in fall sports at neighboring states like Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma does not mean New Mexicans can expect the same, can not live on someone else’s policies and practices in this year (and years) of anything but normalcy.

RUNNING NOTES:

The word on the Santa Fe Indian School cross country runners is that their number one harrier, senior Chris Humetewa, is on the Cleveland High roster, senior Isaiah Velasquez on the Santa Fe High roster, seniors Isaiah Desheno and Etan Vigil on the Pojoaque roster, and seniors Braydon Candelario and Ethan Vigil have decided not to run, but head coach Joe Calabazza hopes that the two will be available if the Braves return as a team for track and field. That’s the boys, who finished second at state in 2018, and third last year. Humetewa ran third last year after taking second the year before,

The girls, who placed fourth at state last year, have Ivory Emery, Destiny Marquez, Iriiana Montoya running for Bernalillo and Alexandria Aquino for Espanola Valley. Sophomore Emery was its leading runner last season.