{"id":89579,"date":"2020-04-02T17:17:04","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T23:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/chsaa-extends-spring-activities-suspension-through-april-30-because-of-coronavirus\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T11:01:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T11:01:23","slug":"chsaa-extends-spring-activities-suspension-through-april-30-because-of-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/chsaa-extends-spring-activities-suspension-through-april-30-because-of-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"CHSAA extends spring activities suspension through April 30 because of coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"
du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Colorado High School Activities Association has extended the suspension of spring sports activities through April 30 because of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Following Gov. Jared Polis\u2019 announcement Wednesday to keep public and private schools closed and operating online with remote learning through at least April 30, CHSAA followed suit to prohibit spring sports activities, including competition and practice, through the same date after it had originally suspended activities through April 6<\/a> and then to April 18.<\/p>\n

The action is in an effort to limit the fast spread of the new coronavirus, which has become a global pandemic with roughly 245,000 confirmed cases in the U.S. and more than 6,000 deaths with more than one million cases worldwide and the death toll at nearly 53,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny decisions regarding spring activities potentially resuming will depend on students\u2019 abilities to return to in-person instruction,\u201d CHSAA said in a news release to CHSAANow.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CHSAA commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green has been careful not to speculate on what spring sports seasons would look like if competition did resume at some point during the school year. In an uncertain time, no plans can be made until stay-at-home orders are lifted and students can return to classrooms.<\/p>\n

Not only does the CHSAA suspension apply to sports, but to all school activities such as band, debate clubs and more.<\/p>\n

By following the governor\u2019s guidelines and not canceling the entire spring season like the NCAA has for college sports, high school athletes in Colorado still have some small chance of salvaging part of their season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are grateful to have some hope. The kids need it,\u201d said Durango School District 9-R Athletic Director Ryan Knorr. \u201cWhether it\u2019s going to happen, I don\u2019t know, but the kids knowing there is a chance goes a long way. Our coaches have done an unbelievable job staying in contact, either sending workouts or even just checking in on the players. Kids buy in with that as long as they think a season is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coaches and players have settled into a new normal over the last two weeks. Still, they are itching to get back to school, practices and games if the opportunity does come.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trying to stay positive,\u201d said Durango High School baseball coach Rob Coddington, who has begun to conduct online video chats with his players this week. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to think something will come of this spring, but we are being optimistic and keeping something at the end of the tunnel and trying to have something to look forward to. I\u2019ve talked to so many coaches around the state, and everyone is trying to get their fix in creative ways. We are sports people. We want to be coaching. But we also want everybody to be safe and healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coddington, a social studies teacher at DHS, has stayed busy producing online classes for students. He said DHS teachers have come together to provide engaging material for students learning from home.<\/p>\n

Knorr would support CHSAA delivering a chance for athletes to compete for state championships and said nobody would have a competitive edge because the entire state is dealing with the same situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a giant asterisk next to spring 2020. It will be interesting to see how it plays out,\u201d Knorr said. \u201cI have a feeling our kids would jump at the chance to compete, and I think our community would jump at an opportunity to watch them, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coddington said if there is any chance of a Class 4A state baseball tournament even as late as June, his team would want to compete.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, and the kids feel it to, right now we all want to stay healthy. But as soon as the kids can get on the baseball field, no matter in what form or fashion, that\u2019s going to be a bonus,\u201d Coddington said. \u201cHigh school athletes want to play. Little League kids want to play. It\u2019s all over the country. The second fields open up and the country has a clean bill of health, we are going to get out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife is a nurse. A lot of the kids on our team, their parents are firefighters, police officers, medical workers. Right now, our thoughts are with those people. I truly believe once this is all over, it will put in perspective why we love things like high school baseball and college and pro sports. We love it, but right now it\u2019s about keeping everybody healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

jlivingston@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

priority, but coaches and players hopeful for some form of season<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":89580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1871,685,592,28,846,29,427,2343],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-89579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bayfield-high-school","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-durango-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-ignacio-high-school","tag-newsletter","tag-prep-sports","tag-sports-group"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89579"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89590,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89579\/revisions\/89590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89579"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=89579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}