By Greg Seubert and Rich Palzewic
STEVENS POINT – The WIAA Board of Control voted April 21 to cancel the spring sports season and state tournaments because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The vote came less than a week after Gov. Tony Evers extended the state’s Safer at Home order until Tuesday, May 26.
The order also called for all public and private schools to close for the remainder of the 2019-10 school year.
Evers’ original Safer at Home order was set to expire Friday, April 24, which left the door open for a shortened season.
The WIAA announced March 12 that the final two days of the girls’ basketball state tournament and the rest of the boys’ basketball tournaments would be canceled.
The organization later suspended the spring sports season before the competition began.
UW-Madison announced earlier this month that the WIAA couldn’t use its facilities for the state softball, boys’ golf and boys’ tennis tournaments in June.
Spring sports include baseball, softball, track, boys’ tennis, boys’ golf and girls’ soccer.
The board also voted to expand out-of-season coach contact opportunities to 30 days (originally five) for spring sports athletes (9-12) during summer, pending local guidelines.
This could include the Class of 2020 athletes, who otherwise could not have been included.
The 30 days of coach contact is not a WIAA summer season but allows teams to get together and potentially practice or compete with other teams using school resources.
It’s up to each school to allow, not allow or limit the activities.
To expand to 30 days, this must include seniors, otherwise, the contact days will remain at five.