EAST LANSING, MI (WTVB) – As had been expected, the Michigan High School Athletic Association canceled the remainder of the 2019-20 Winter and Spring sports seasons on Friday in compliance with the “state of disaster” directive by Governor Gretchen Whitmer which closed school buildings and moved education online for the remainder of the school year to help decrease the spread of COVID-19.
The MHSAA suspended in progress winter sports tournaments on March 12th just hours before girls basketball regional championship games were scheduled to be played and a day before there were supposed to have been boys basketball tournament district title games.
The Coldwater and Quincy boys basketball teams were among those who were denied a chance to play for a district title.
Also suspended that weekend were state finals in girls gymnastics, boys ice hockey and boys swimming & diving tournaments. Four members of the Coldwater girls gymnastics team had qualified for the individual state finals.
Activity in all sports was halted March 13. Spring sports to that point had begun practice, but not competition.
This will be the first school year to not see MHSAA Finals played in multiple sports since 1942-43, when World War II led to the elimination of Finals in most sports.
The MHSAA’s Representative Council approved during its Winter Meeting March 27 a series of concepts for completing the Winter tournaments and an abbreviated Spring season, contingent on the lifting of a statewide quarantine. The closure of school buildings into June made those possibilities void.
The MHSAA’s Executive Committee, comprised of officers of the larger Council, affirmed the decision on Friday to cancel the remainder of this school year’s activities.
Because the five Winter sports were not able to conclude with Finals, no champions will be awarded in those sports for 2019-20. However, championships won at earlier rounds of those tournaments (District or Regional) will continue to stand.
The MHSAA will soon provide guidelines and other information pertinent to this unusual offseason as attention is turned to preparing for Fall 2020.
