The Michigan High School Athletic Association is determined to finish what it started. The organization announced Friday that it will resume the three remaining fall tournaments that were put on hold Nov. 15 by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.
The football playoffs that were paused Nov. 20 with regional finals for 11-man teams and semifinals in 8-man action will resume Jan. 2, with finals in all divisions taking place Jan. 15-16 at a site to be determined. Semifinal games will be played at home sites.
When Whitmer announced in mid-November that all sports — professional, college and high school — must stop for three weeks, the MHSAA anticipated its football tournaments would resume in December. But with more spikes, that pause will be 42 days. Others states paused their football tournaments this fall due to COVID, but none more than two weeks.
Texas is the only other state that is scheduled to finish fall football action in January. Other sports in Michigan to finish in January are girls volleyball and girls swimming and diving.
According to the
MHSAA release, all previous safety protocols remain in place and no spectators will be allowed at fall tournament events. All indoor winter sports, which are not part of the pilot rapid testing program, remain on pause until Jan. 16. The MHSAA council will meet Dec. 22 to discuss details for the rest of winter sports.
All Michigan spring 2021 sports are expected to begin on time and play complete seasons concluding with their traditional MHSAA tournament dates in May and June.
Heading into this week, 23 states have finished fall football seasons with four forced to end playoffs early due to the ongoing pandemic. Nine more states hope to finish football this month, including Arkansas, Delaware, Florida,
Kentucky, Oklahoma and South Carolina this week.
