By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–No news was not necessarily good news Wednesday for Union City High School football.
There’s hope, though, that it wasn’t bad news either.
Saying “Hope for the best and we need to prepare for the worst,” TSSAA Executive Director Bernard Childress encouraged the Board of Control to delay voting on a restructure of the 2020 season for both football and girls’ soccer.
The TSSAA is still in discussion with Gov Bill Lee’s office about finding a way to allow the two sports to start their respective seasons on time Aug. 21. Currently the two – deemed close-contact sports – are in limbo due to the governor’s executive order that was extended two months on June 29, essentially wiping away the first two weeks of the TSSAA’s original fall sports calendar.
Golf, volleyball and cross country were not affected by the extension as they were each classified as non-contact sports and will keep with their traditional practices and competitions.
Childress said the state’s governing body of high school athletics is still involved in discussions with the governor’s legal council to find a way for football and girls’ soccer to begin their seasons on time.
Thus the ‘no-decision’ on Wednesday.
“Based on our conversations that we’re having, we think that right now it’s the best to delay any vote on a contingency plan,” Childress said during the brief BOC meeting. “It’s not necessary to make that decision today. We need to give them the opportunity to do what they need to do and watch the data.”
There was no date or time frame presented by the TSSAA chief on when a verdict might come from Gov. Lee.
The Board of Control met in executive session for 22 minutes Wednesday, delaying the start of the meeting.
There were four contingency plans presented to board members on July 1. Those representatives sought and got input from their constituents and it was thought that a vote would be taken on one of those plans Wednesday.
Those plans – each of which would have a Sept. 18 Week 1 date — were:
- A seven-game regular season with a full complement of the current five-round playoff system to follow. The postseason would begin as originally scheduled in early November with four teams in each region qualifying in a 32-team bracket in each classification, as is currently the case. Teams that do not make the playoffs will be allowed to schedule two more games to give themselves a nine-game schedule.
- An eight-game regular season with only the top two finishers in each region qualifying for the playoffs in a 16-team, four-round set-up. The postseason would begin a week later than originally scheduled, with one round essentially eliminated, but the state title games would still be held as originally slated in Cookeville in early December. Non-playoff teams would be allowed to play two additional games to fill out a complete 10-game schedule.
- A nine-game regular season with an eight-team playoff set-up where only the region champions would qualify. There would be three rounds of playoffs, beginning with the quarterfinals which would be held on Nov. 20. Teams would use their original schedule, beginning the year with their Sept. 18 games, then pick up Weeks 3 and 4 for their seventh and eighth games before then playing either their Week 1 or Week 2 opponent for the ninth game. Once more, a game could be added to the non-playoff qualifiers, giving programs a full season schedule.
- A final and most unlikely option presented would be a complete 10-week schedule and no playoffs or championship games. Schools would begin the year with the Week 5 games on their original schedules.