AUBURN — The School Committee on Wednesday night voted to approve fall sports including cross-country, golf, soccer and field hockey.
State guidelines will not allow football or volleyball to be played.
“On some level it’s tragic that we’re eliminating volleyball,” committee Vice Chairman David Simpson said. “The medical community responded to that favorably.”
Football and girls’ volleyball could be moved to the spring, Athletic Director Todd Sampson said.
“Our kids deserve that chance,” he said.
He said it would be easy to move volleyball to late winter or early spring because it would be played inside. Football would be more difficult if COVID-19 continues to be an issue, he said.
In the meantime, football players can continue to practice by doing “iron man” activities including lifting weights and flipping tires. They also can play pass, punt and kick, and play seven on seven.
But it’s unclear whether teams can compete against each other, Edward Little High School Principal Scott Annear said.
“Right now we don’t have enough information about what others are doing or what is possible, whether it’s just among ourselves,” he said.
Seven on seven would involve taking four positions off the field. No equipment would be worn and no tackling would be allowed.
“It could be a whistle or tag or touch,” Annear said.
Sampson said coaches are trying to make the best of a bad situation. “It’s been about life lessons. You will have disappointments, but you need to know how to stay positive.”
He said there would be no interscholastic middle school sports in the fall because the district belongs to the Southern Maine Middle School Conference, which includes York County where cases of the virus have been mounting.
Coaches are working on plans for intramural sports, he said.
“The hope is that they will be interested in soccer, cross-country and field hockey,” Sampson said.
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