[Sport] New England states differ on fall sport plans.

[_Happy boy]

While Massachusetts has yet to make any formal decisions regarding the fall season, other New England states have laid out their respective plans, or at least some aspects of them, in recent weeks. Here’s a closer look at what some neighboring states are exploring:

Connecticut
As of Thursday afternoon, Connecticut is moving forward with all of its fall sports, and despite a recent 9-1 vote by a subcommittee to move the football season to the spring amid coronavirus concerns, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference agreed to move forward as planned.

The state’s Department of Public Health sent a letter to the CIAC Thursday with its recommendations for fall sports. That included moving football and girls’ volleyball to the spring season, and postponing the start date of fall sports to two weeks after the reopening of in-person education. Needless to say, the situation continues to evolve.

Starting Sept. 11, all fall teams are set to be allowed to practice as a team, with contests beginning on Sept. 23. Football teams have been conditioning together in cohorts of 15 since early July, and all sports will be allowed to practice in cohorts starting Aug. 17.

Fourteen other states have already moved football to the spring season, as North Carolina joined that number on Wednesday. The CIAC cited “continued positive COVID-19 numbers” as a reason why it felt comfortable with proceeding with high school sports for the fall season, though that was before the DPH’s recommendation list on Thursday.

The Nutmeg State is going with regionalized scheduling for sports as well, meaning teams will play schools in close proximity to reduce travel.

In its latest update, the CIAC advised against allowing spectators at games.

“The CIAC position on fan/spectator attendance is that fans should not be allowed at interscholastic contests or practices,” the CIAC said in a statement. “We understand the complexities of individual districts who use public fields and that the ultimate decision rests with the district, however, the CIAC believes that prohibiting fan/spectator attendance aligns best with the goals of education-based athletics.”

New Hampshire
The NHIAA announced in late July that all sports would be moving forward for the fall season, pending approval from individual districts throughout New Hampshire. Some districts have opted out from playing fall sports, while others have voted to participate.

The first date to practice for all fall sports is Sept. 8, though the state is taking a staggered approach to starting games depending on the sport and how it is classified in terms of risk level. For example, golf matches can begin on Sept. 10 while football, which would be the last sport to start playing games, can begin on Sept. 25.

“The NHIAA believes it is essential to the physical, emotional and mental well-being of students to return to physical activity and athletic competition safely,” the NHIAA’s Return to Play document stated.

Vermont
There will be no football in Vermont this fall, though the state has alternative plans in the works for that sport. The rest of the sports will move forward, and the state is using some outside the box thinking in regards to the sport of volleyball. Matches will be held outdoors this fall, though teams will be allowed to hold practices indoors.

Teams can begin practices when schools reopen on Sept. 8. They can conduct conditioning, skill-building drills and inter-program scrimmages. Competition between schools is expected to begin the week of Sept. 21.

Football programs will be allowed to hold low-contact practices and plans are in the works to hold a 7-on-7 touch football season instead of the traditional offering, according to Jay Nichols, executive director of the Vermont Principals’ Association.

“A lot of it comes down to blocking and players being really close to each other — respiratory droplets on each other, breathing on each other, when a player is tackled there is a whole group of people together,” Nichols told the Burlington Free Press. “It became very clear that football is problematic.”

The state’s Agency of Education and the Department of Health will also require facial coverings to be worn at all times by competitors, coaches and spectators for games, similar to what the Massachusetts EEA recommended in its Thursday release. Golf and cross-country races will be exceptions, when participants can maintain social distancing.

“We came to the conclusion that masks for everyone was appropriate,” Gov. Phil Scott said during a media briefing. “We just (announced) mandatory masks for all Vermonters, we’re having masks in school and we feel ... sports should be included as well. ”