OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Friday night football titans in Kansas find themselves in a state of limbo.
On Wednesday, when Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced schools won’t open until after Labor Day, it left high school football players and coaches in a holding pattern, while grappling with the pandemic, too.
Football families, as well as high schools, were caught offsides when Kelly made that announcement.
Fall sports practices were scheduled to begin Aug. 17 in the Sunflower State, and the delay in returning to school this fall has football teams taking a stand, asking Kansas decision-makers to let them play ball.
Michael Allen, a junior safety at Blue Valley High School, posted his plea to play to Twitter on Wednesday. Allen shared a graphic with information concerning the pandemic, how it affects high school athletes, and reminders about the socially-distanced workouts many schools have used this summer.
Allen said he’s begging KSHSAA managers to make careful decisions before canceling the season altogether. So far, state administrators in at least one state, Virginia, have chosen to cancel fall sports altogether.
“I think KSHSAA should explore a lot of options,” Allen said. “I feel like if we are able to show responsibility through these socially distant workouts that we’ve been doing since June — it will look completely different — but we should explore possibilities to play in the fall.”.
At Olathe West High School, father of four Wayne Krause normally watches his sons play the pigskin on Friday nights.
Krause helped organize a Facebook group called “Help Them Play,” encouraging Kansas administrators to consider allowing players to participate in football on a voluntary basis.
“There’s combinations of masking and hygiene and limiting the number of people at the games and different protocols that can be put in place that can assure the kids can do it in a safe manner,” Krause said.
KSHSAA leaders had originally decided to disclose their plans for the upcoming fall sports season this Friday. Kelly’s announcement caught many in the state by surprise, including Jon Holmes, six-time defending Class 4A state championship coach at Bishop Miege High School.
Holmes pointed to the mental health of teenagers, who depend on the social aspect of football, as a great reason to play ball.
“I think if you start taking things away from people that makes them who they are, that’s when issues start happening,” Holmes said. “ I can’t imagine what some of these kids are going through. I just know, on a daily basis, the things I struggle with, so I can imagine what them as players and teenagers are going through on a daily basis.”
Holmes, who is in his ninth season at Bishop Miege, a private Catholic school that has dominated its division, is also concerned about players who might choose to transfer to schools in Missouri if Kansas schools can’t play this fall.
A spokesperson for Missouri’s governing body for high school activities told FOX4 schools in the Show-Me State are on track to begin fall sports practices on Aug. 10 and games on Aug. 28. Missouri often begins its regular season football games a week before teams in Kansas do.
