August 30, 2020 – COVID-19 UPDATE

On Tuesday (August 25) Randolph County Schools announced that staff at Trinity and Providence Grove High Schools had identified individuals at those schools with COVID-19. Those individuals, and others they had been in contact with, were placed on a remote learning schedule for two weeks.

Tonight (Sunday) Trinity Athletics informed students via social media that athletics are “on hold” and that in-person classes would not resume until the week of September 14. Group A students will return to the classroom on Monday the 14th and Group B students on Thursday the 17th.

In an email to SportsTone, Trinity Athletic Director Robert Mitchell indicated his expectations that they would “get everything up and running again on Sept 14.”

August 29, 2020 - FALL BASEBALL

The Asheboro Copperheads' Fall Baseball League is scheduled to begin play on Tuesday, September 8. McCrary Park will host the games which run through the end of October.

The season schedule for all nine teams involved can be found HERE.

August 22, 2020 – HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS NATIONWIDE

There is almost three months to go before competitions resume in high school sports in North Carolina. Most states have delayed fall sports by several weeks or longer but a dozen or more have decided to begin either on schedule or with brief delays. Even in those states, however, the 2020 season is likely to be far from normal.

 - According to published reports, many teams are dealing with a patchwork of local health guidelines affecting themselves or their scheduled opponents or both. A football team in Cape Girardeau, Missouri has rescheduled their opening opponent twice due to restrictions in the other communities.

 - In Tennessee, the state High School Association is requiring face masks and social distancing at all events (where local regulations allow spectators). Marching bands are also being discouraged from participating during football games.

 - In Vermont, at least during the early season, volleyball matches must be played outside. Meanwhile football players and fans - and probably coaches too – are reading up on the rules for 7-on-7 touch football which will replace 11-man tackle football this season.

 - Wyoming is among the states allowing no more than two teams to participate in golf or tennis matches. Volleyball teams can host two opponents on the same day but must allow time for the gym to be cleared and cleaned between matches. The state volleyball championship has also been changed to a one-day, single-elimination tournament.

 - Nebraska high schools begin football games this Friday although some school systems, like Omaha (the state's largest city), have canceled fall sports.

 - Montana has eliminated all non-conference games except for golf. In the state capitol, Helena, no fans will be allowed at any high school sports competition until further notice.

 - It's softball season in Oklahoma with face masks required of players while in the dugout in Oklahoma City. OKC Schools have also eliminated concessions at fall events and are requiring masks and temperature checks for everyone entering football stadiums. Players on the sidelines can spread out between the 10's this season but have to mask up when not in the game.

 - Idaho began their football season yesterday with at least two teams under quarantine or self-isolation. Air quality is also a concern in Idaho and some other western states because of smoke from the wildfires in California.

 - West Virginia has adopted a color-code system of green (practice and games allowed), yellow (practice and games with a parent/guardian allowed), orange (practice but no games) and red (stop everything). The map is updated every Saturday night so everyone will know what will be allowed during the upcoming week in each of the 55 counties.

 - Bismark-area schools in North Dakota will only allow ticket purchases by people with a voucher. Student-athletes will receive from 2 to 4 vouchers for each event. They can give their vouchers to parents or whomever they wish.

 - South Carolina high school practices are underway for swimming as well as girl's golf and tennis with volleyball and cross country set to join in Monday. Some football jamborees have taken place but news also came this week that last season's SC Football Player of the Year, quarterback Mikele Colasurdo from the Spartanburg area, will miss his freshman season at Georgia State University due to complications from a COVID-19 infection.

The latest schedule from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association has volleyball and cross country athletes beginning team practices in early November with November 16 as the date for first contests.

August 12, 2020 – HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association has announced that high school sports in North Carolina will not resume until November.

The decision, passed by the Board of Directors Tuesday night, spreads the sports which traditionally take place during autumn throughout the winter and spring months. The domino effect from that decision means changes for all sports schedules during the 2020-21 school year.

CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW

August 12, 2020 – HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association will announce the revised calendar for fall sports this afternoon at 2 o'clock.

SportsTone (channel 1) will carry the audio announcement beginning at 1:50 this afternoon and SportsTone.net will provide details on the plan later today.

August 9, 2020 – HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS NATIONWIDE

Based on information gathered by the National Federation of State High School Athletic Associations and other internet sources as of Saturday, August 8. All information is subject to change (it probably will and possibly has already).

Twenty-one states* plan to begin the fall sports season either as originally scheduled or with minor delays of 1-2 weeks. (Including Michigan which plans to re-evaluate their situation this week.)

Sixteen states** have delayed the start of some or all sports until September or October.

Seven states have postponed all sports until December or later. Those are VA, CA, OR, HI, MD, DE and NV.

In three states (NM, CO, IL), some sports will take place in the fall but football and soccer have been postponed until spring and a fourth state (MN) has postponed football and volleyball until spring.

Ohio and Pennsylvania were expected to make decisions soon.

*21 States planning to begin more-or-less as scheduled: AK, AL, AR, CT, FL, ID, IN, IA, KS, MI, MO, MS, MT, NE, ND, OK, SD, TN, UT, WV and WY.

**16 States planning on a delayed start for some or all sports: AZ, GA, KY, LA, MA, ME, NC, NH, NJ, NY, RI, SC, TX, VT, WA and WI.

August 6, 2020 – NCHSAA ANNOUNCEMENT

According to James Alverson, Assistant Commissioner for Media Relations, the state association notified all of it's member schools this morning that the “NCHSAA Staff and Board of Directors will review all available options, seek input from SMAC, DPI, a sports Ad Hoc Committee, and announce a calendar for playing sports during the upcoming school year. It is hoped that we can make this announcement prior to August 17, 2020.”

This follows the announcement yesterday by Governor Cooper that North Carolina will remain in Phase Two of the reopening plan until at least September 11.

READ THE MEMO

August 5, 2020 – NC 3 BASEBALL

The 2020 NC 3 American League Baseball season concluded tonight with Lexington-Davidson playing at High Point-Thomasville. The Junior Hi Toms got a 6-1 win in the finale.

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Season results can be found on the NC 3 PAGE.

August 5, 2020 – HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS

Asheboro High School and Southwestern Randolph High School were recently recognized as being among the public high schools in North Carolina which had NO student athletes ejected from any sporting event during the 2019-2020 school year.

The Blue Comets and the Cougars were the only two members of the Mid-Piedmont Conference represented on the list.

NCHSAA EJECTION-FREE SCHOOLS