Life in Castle Hills Magazine August 2020

SPORTS HAVE STARTED

AGAIN At Least For Some

by Steve Gamel | photo courtesy of UIL

T

he fall sports season has started. Well, at least for some. The University Interscholastic League announced a tiered 2020-2021 athletic calendar on July 21 that would allow some schools to start fall practices on-time on Aug. 3 while delaying others until Sept. 7.

As part of the plan, Class 1A-4A fall sports programs like Argyle started volleyball games Aug. 10. Cross Country and team tennis started on the 17th. The Eagles’ football team plays its season opener on the 27th. Meanwhile, Class 5A and 6A schools can’t start practicing until Sept. 7, with games starting in the weeks after. This new start date for the UIL’s two highest classifications is roughly five weeks later than normal and is in direct response to COVID-19 concerns. For Murray Media’s coverage area, the 5A/6A schools affected are Guyer, Lake Dallas, Marcus, Flower Mound, Hebron, The Colony, and Justin Northwest.

“Our goal in releasing this plan is to provide a path forward for Texas students and schools,” UIL Executive Director Charles Breithaupt said in a press release. “While understanding situations change and there will likely be interruptions that will require flexibility and patience, we are hopeful this plan 30 | LIFE IN CASTLE HILLS | AUGUST 2020

be impossible to make it ideal for every school and every school district around the state.” Webb was spot-on. The new plan changes the entire makeup of the

allows students to participate in the

typical athletic calendar. Not only have

way that prioritizes safety and mitigates

schedules to fit the new plan, but playoffs

education-based activities they love in a

teams been forced to alter their game

risk of COVID-19 spread.”

and state championship games also have

There haven’t been any games at the

high school level since the UIL suspended practices and games in mid-March as concerns over the coronavirus were

running rampant. The UIL allowed schools to begin strength and conditioning and sports-specific training in early June,

but questions continued to linger over whether or not athletics would resume in the fall. That all changed with the

latest announcement, though the UIL made it very clear that this is a fluid

significant date changes.

The state title games for 1A-4A in volleyball and football remain Nov. 18-21 and Dec. 18-19, respectively. But the larger school playoffs begin in early December for football — as opposed to November. The title games will be in January. Meanwhile, the volleyball state tournament for 5A and 6A schools will be Dec. 11-12 rather than before Thanksgiving.

process and that plenty can change

As you attend games, you may notice

coronavirus cases.

also to limit spectators to a 50% maximum

if there is another spike in confirmed “At some point in time, we’ve got to

set dates, and we’ve got to say, ‘These are the dates. We’re playing,’” Guyer

football coach Rodney Webb told the

Dallas Morning News. “It was going to

fewer spectators. Part of the UIL’s plan was capacity for each stadium or gym to allow for social distancing to continue. Everyone must wear face masks.

A calendar provided by the UIL is included with this article. www.CastleHillsMagazine.com