Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said Monday he will not overturn the KHSAA Board of Control vote to begin the sports seasons early next month, but he does have concerns the seasons will be completed. The Governor made the announcement during his Monday media briefing in Frankfort. Earlier in the day, over 200 students, parents, and coaches held a hastily scheduled rally outside the state capitol as part of the ‘Let Them Play’ movement. Student-athletes are worried concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic will result in the cancellation of the fall sports season like what happened in the spring.
Beshear said he doesn’t agree with the decision to start high contact sports such as football, but will defer to the KHSAA to monitor the situation.
School athletic directors were told Monday by the KHSAA they were still working on the details of the plan to include spacing at venues, crowd limitations, and game logistics. The governor said starting high contact sports too early not only puts their seasons at risk, but also the resumption of in-person classes at schools.
Beshear said schools and sports teams must be transparent with COVID-19 case numbers and that he has the authority to step in and shut down high school sports if he thinks people are trying to manipulate the system for competitive gain and risking the health of the athletes.
Kentucky Commissioner of Health Dr. Steven Stack said with increased testing at SEC schools recently, Vanderbilt had to shut down football practices almost immediately after positive tests. However, he did not mention the University of Kentucky that saw its first two positive cases among players just last week as the campus opened to students. Dr. Stack doesn’t think the high schools will see its teams play a complete schedule this fall.
The KHSAA Board of Control overwhelmingly approved to continue its previous restart plan last week. Under the plan, cross country, football, soccer, and volleyball can begin full practices this week after a month of conditioning and no-contact drills. Scheduled games in soccer, cross country, and volleyball would begin the week of September 7 with the football season kicking off September 11.
Two other proposals that would have pushed back the start of the seasons until late September were voted down by the board of control.
