The 2020-21 high school sports year is set to kick off on Monday.
The IHSAA announced Wednesday morning that it is proceeding with its plan to start the fall sports season as planned after having to cancel the spring sports because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wednesday afternoon, Marion County announced that it was suspending football, volleyball and boys and girls soccer through the end of September. But just a couple hours later, the schools reversed course and continue practicing. The Marion County Public Health Department will continue to review data over the next two-to-three weeks before determining if additional action is necessary.
Girls golf teams across the state can begin practice on Friday and can play matches beginning Monday. East and North open their seasons Monday at the Bloomington South Invitational.
Practice in all other fall sports can begin Monday. Contests in six of those sports — volleyball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls cross-country and boys tennis — can start Aug. 15.
Football scrimmages are scheduled for Aug. 14-15. The football regular season begins Aug. 21. Both East and North have home scrimmages on Aug. 15 and home games on Aug. 21.
That’s a stark contrast to neighboring Illinois, which on Wednesday, pushed football, volleyball and boys and girls soccer to the spring of 2021. On Tuesday, Kentucky pushed back the start of its high school sports practices to Aug. 24 and contests to Sept. 7.
Ohio, on the other hand, announced Tuesday that its schools can begin practice as planned on Saturday. Michigan on Wednesday announced a phased-in approach with different start dates for lower- and higher-risk sports.
Foster nets national ranking
Columbus East softball player Kenzie Foster has been ranked No. 30 in the country in the Class of 2023 by extrainningsoftball.com
Foster, who will be a sophomore at Columbus East, also plays volleyball for the Olympians. Her freshman softball season was canceled this spring because of COVID-19.
Banerjee takes second
Aditya Banerjee carded a 4-over-par 76 Tuesday to finish second in the boys 16-19-year-old division of an Indiana Golf Foundation event at Sunrise Golf Club in Madison.
Banerjee, who will be a junior at Columbus North, shot 38 on both the front and back nines. Levi Follett of Garrett won with a 2-under 70.
No fans for Blue-White Night
Columbus North will once again hold its Blue-White Night on Aug. 15. However, no fans will be permitted to attend this year’s event because of COVID-19 concerns.
The Bull Dogs still plan to hold intrasquad football and volleyball scrimmages that night, and the boys and girls cross-country teams will run a mile on the track at halftime of the football scrimmage, as they have in previous years.
