Melrose School Committee vote makes it official
Published September 11, 2020
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
MELROSE — It’s official: fall sports will be played in the Middlesex League – and in Melrose – at least in some form or fashion.
On Tuesday night, the Melrose School Committee unanimously voted to approve cross country, field hockey, golf and soccer to be played this fall at Melrose High.
After hearing from the league’s athletic directors on Sept. 4, the ML-12 superintendents made a decision to allow fall sports to be played, with the exception of indoor sports volleyball and swimming. The decision to push indoor sports to the MIAA’s designated “floating” fall 2 season was made for a multitude of reasons including ventilation concerns in gyms for volleyball matches and the possibility that many of the league’s gyms and field houses may be used as extra classroom or cafeteria space when students return.
As for swim, facilities were very difficult to get this fall. The fall 2 season will be from Feb. 22 to April 25, in-between the winter and spring seasons.
The league won’t allow the MIAA’s passed motion of out-of-season coaching contact, meaning only fall sport coaches can work with student-athletes. This also means that sports now scheduled for other seasons (like football, volleyball and swim) are not allowed to practice this fall.
The plan is for the soccer, field hockey, cross country and golf teams to play a 10-game regular season in eight weeks from Sept. 26 to Nov. 14. Most games/meets will take place on Saturday’s. The fall season, according to the MIAA, will officially end Nov. 20. There will be no state tournaments this fall. It is unknown whether the Middlesex League will hold their own postseason or tournaments.
Practices and tryouts will start on Sept. 21. The first contest for golf will be Sept. 28 while games will begin on Oct. 3 for soccer and field hockey. Cross country will begin on Oct. 10.
Varsity will play 10 games and sub-varsity will play eight. Cross country will have five meets.
Teams will only play other teams in their own division, so Melrose will play the other five Freedom Div. schools (Wakefield, Stoneham, Burlington, Watertown and Wilmington) twice. The teams will play the same school in back-to-back weeks. For example, Stoneham might travel to Melrose to compete in all sports and the following week the Spartans will host the Raiders. This is so that opponents can be traced back 14 days should any outbreaks of the virus occur.
The varsity game dates for soccer and field hockey are: Oct. 3, Oct, 10, Oct. 12, Oct. 17, Oct. 24, Oct. 31, Nov. 7, Nov. 11, Nov. 14 and Nov. 21. That is eight Saturday’s, Columbus Day and Veterans Day.
Sub-varsity will play those eight Saturday’s.
Cross country will compete on Oct. 10, 17, 24, Nov. 7 and Nov. 14.
Golf schedules will be created based on course availability.
There will be no bus transportation for student athletes this fall. Parents are expected to drive the student athletes to away games.
Games and practices will follow the guidelines and modifications announced by the MIAA. Every sport will be a little different with many details still yet to be ironed out.
Cross country will at least need staggered starts broken up into waves of runners with an emphasis on social distancing. Field hockey will be played 7 v. 7 instead of the typical 11 v. 11 and won’t include penalty corners. The soccer modifications are perhaps the most drastic, where headers, slide tackles and throw-ins won’t be allowed, and all direct kicks, including corners, must be played on the ground. There are already statewide reports of petitions sent to the MIAA to alter the modifications for these sports but the league will need to prepare for the current modifications.
In that vein, the work is just beginning for athletic directors who are getting started on training coaches to follow safety measures while working to provide clean facilities and equipment.
Sports play a vital role in the mental and physical health and wellbeing of many students. The league will provide that this fall but safety will always be the first and often only consideration.
