NCHSAA extends dead period until June 15th

The North Carolina High School Board of Directors held a meeting Monday night, May 25th, where the decision was made to extend the Coronavirus dead period until June 15th. 

 

Originally the dead period was set to be over on June 1st, however the vote to extend it was unanimous. NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker held a press conference for members of the media at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Tucker said that the NCHSAA plans to allow all sports to resume when the dead period ends, but there will be restrictions and no contact will be allowed.

When asked about fall sports Tucker said that the NCHSAA is moving forward as if fall sports will begin on August 1st. Currently the NCHSAA isn’t considering moving sports seasons.

The commissioner stated, “We don’t think it is even wise to begin talking about moving sports seasons right now, “We’re not really entertaining that.” However, the NCHSAA has come up with a plan if fall sports are unable to start on time. It could be a shortened regular season or a reduced number of playoff teams, but the change of one season does not mean

that other seasons will be altered. 

 

Here are some key takeaways from the press conference: 

 

• NCHSAA plans to allow all sports to resume when the June 15th deadline hits, not just a select few. No contact will be allowed and there will be restrictions from the state level.
• NCHSAA says that schools and athletic departments should be using this time to gather things such as gloves, masks, cleaning supplies and sanitizer in abundance in order to safely operate practices and reduce the risk of Coronavirus.
• North Carolina schools will receive guidelines no later than one week after the dead period ends.
• No change has been made to the realignment calendar as the by-laws require realignment to happen every four years, and this is the fourth year.
• The NCHSAA realizes that it is impossible to stop every student-athlete from contracting the Coronavirus, but says they are being very diligent in trying to stop the spread and that is why there was no fuss in terms of moving the dead period another 2 weeks.
• The NCHSAA has taken an 8-10% hit financially speaking because of the Coronavirus.

The NCHSAA also sent out an email to members of the association, in which it read “If pandemic conditions in NC continue to improve, summer activities could begin June 15th.”