Arizona High School Fall Sports to Begin as Planned With Updated Schedule

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Arizona High School sports, including swimming and diving, will continue this fall, though the dates will be a little different than originally planned.

The Arizona Interscholastic Association’s Executive Board on Wednesday announced despite COVID-19, fall sports are going to have a season.

“The Executive Board did a great job in a very difficult situation to make an effort to give students the opportunity to participate,” AIA Executive Director David Hines told AZ Central.

Swimming and diving will have its first practice on Aug. 24, with the first competitions on Sept. 14 and the state championships on Nov. 5-7.

The AIA, which has 274-member schools, this week met with its COVID-19 crisis management and medical advisory teams to discuss how to approach the fall sports seasons amid the pandemic, AZ Central reported.

Swimming and diving, badminton and and volleyball will start before football this fall.

The Executive Board voted for a phase-in approach to fall sports, according to the AIA press release.

“The health and safety of our student participants, coaches, officials and essential personnel, including volunteers, is the primary concern for the return of interscholastic athletics and activities,” Hines said in a press release. “We are very grateful to those who share our commitment of a return to these highly beneficial educational activities and athletics.”

The start dates of each sport, the release states, were identified based on information received from member schools regarding student and personnel safety, and what is most easily administered by athletic directors and coaches, according to AZ Central.

“We owe it to our members to provide a direction,” Executive Board president Toni Corona said in the release. “It may be challenging to get everything going for all the schools at one time but with good communication, we can provide the best possible experience for our students in this unprecedented time. This Board and the AIA staff will continue to provide information and guidelines as we proceed.”

Check out more Arizona High School sports news and high school news around the country here.

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Kyle Cowan
3 years ago

First practice on Aug. 24, with the first competitions on Sept. 14?? That is some speedy turnaround…all club swimmers I take it?!?

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