Fall sports schedules are in flux

The WIAA Board of Control voted to hold high school fall sports on a delayed schedule last week, and now athletic directors and coaches are trying to make schedule alterations and figure out logistics of hosting and traveling to games.

Practice may begin Aug. 17 for boys’ and girls’ cross country, girls’ golf, girls’ swimming and girls’ tennis. That’s right on time for cross country and about a week late for the other sports.

Practice may begin Sept. 7 for football, boys’ soccer and boys’ and girls’ volleyball.

That means the first Friday night football game would be Sept. 25, given the 14-day practice requirement. Both non-conference games are eliminated.

While that only allows four football games to be played, according to the current schedule, the WIAA has cleared schools to play at least two more regular season games.

That would shorten the playoffs, and the WIAA has yet to announce how it plans to handle all fall postseason tournaments.

Football has been the only sport in which teams must have a .500 record to qualify for the playoffs. All teams compete in the postseason in all other sports.

Port Washington and Grafton have an added wrinkle in their plans. For football only, Port joined the East Central Conference this year and Grafton joined the Woodland. The rest of both schools’ athletic teams compete in the North Shore Conference, which released a statement at www.northshoreconference.com on how it plans to handle athletic contests.

To maintain longtime football rivalries, Grafton, Port and Cedarburg had reached a deal for two of the three teams to play one another for the next few years as non-conference games, but that agreement has been delayed by at least a year.

That means Port Washington will retain the coveted Silver Sailboat traveling trophy between the Pirates and Cedarburg Bulldogs for at least another year.

Just filling out the conference schedule in all sports is now the priority, Grafton Athletic Director Kevin Moore said.

A plethora of other elements are in play, including locker room usage, the logistics and number of fans attending games and player transportation to and from games.

Moore said Grafton plans to livestream football games to allow more people to watch.

The focus, he said, is to follow guidelines and procedures to allow students to play.

“I want to get to a spot where our kids can compete and have the experience,” he said.

According to the delayed schedule, the earliest dates for the first competitions are Aug. 20 for girls’ golf, Aug. 21 for girls’ tennis, Aug. 25 for cross country and girls’ swimming and diving. The earliest allowable date for the first boys’ soccer and boys’ and girls’ volleyball contests is Sept. 15, and the first possible football game may be Wednesday, Sept. 23, if the first practice is Sept. 7, according to the WIAA.

For Cedar Grove-Belgium, it would add Howards Grove and eternal rival Oostburg back to the conference schedule for the fifth and sixth games. Manitowoc Lutheran would be the third game added, if allowed.

“Regardless of that or limited playoffs, I’ll take a short season as opposed to no season,” Athletic Director Scott Parsons said.

Ozaukee is scheduled to host Cedar Grove-Belgium Sept. 25 for the football opener.

Two soccer and volleyball games each will need to be moved since they are scheduled before games may be played, he said.

“We all remain hopeful that this will all happen, and we’ll take the necessary steps to do it in a safe and smart way,” Parsons said.

If districts choose not to participate in fall, a spring option will be offered. Details have yet to be announced by the WIAA.

The WIAA fall sports release is on its website at www.wiaawi.org.