As postseason sports tournaments gear up right as covid levels increase, Gov. Jim Justice acknowledged recent conversations about whether to maintain the map of virus spread that determines status, whether to change the game plan or whether to punt.
“I hate for one team to miss it (state championship) and it makes me sick, but at the same time I don’t know what else to do right now,” Justice said during a Friday briefing about West Virginia’s coronavirus response.
The governor described putting those questions — “knowing these decisions are flat-dog tough” — to officials like state Superintendent Clayton Burch, health leaders and Bernie Dolan, executive director of the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission.
In the end, Justice said, they recommended sticking with the color-coded map that halts classroom instruction and extracurricular activities when heightened rates of spread are depicted as orange or red.
Justice said, “they feel like they have to continue using the existing education map and DHHR county alert system map to guide us through the decisions on these counties.”
statement via @WVeducation pic.twitter.com/mYhEqEnLoq
— Brad McElhinny (@BradMcElhinny) November 6, 2020
It is a timely question as West Virginia’s coronavirus numbers remain at concerning levels right at playoff time.
The state AAA soccer pairings were in doubt this morning when a Berkeley Circuit judge issued an injunction based on a Martinsburg High School senior’s claims that the county had fewer virus testing opportunities than others. Because Berkeley County has been on “orange,” her team was ineligible for the playoffs.
The state Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s ruling this morning, about 10 minutes before the first AAA semifinal game was scheduled to begin. So the championships will go on — but without some teams that might have participated if their communities appeared healthier on the map.
Straight ahead are the state high school football playoffs, which could have similar issues.
A daily map produced by the state Department of Health and Human Resources showed three counties today as red: Mineral, Marshall and Logan.
Another nine counties — Ohio, Hampshire, Berkeley, Tyler, Wood, Jackson, Putnam, Lincoln and Wyoming — were orange today.
A dominant Saturday map put out by the state Department of Education will determine the status of schools and football teams around the state.
So some counties with talented teams almost certainly won’t be fielding them.
“We’re dealing with tough stuff. I know there’s kids that are innocent as they can possibly be,” Justice said.
Justice noted that the nation hit a daily record Thursday of 122,000 new cases.
In West Virginia, Justice took note of 540 new positives in past 24 hours. “That’s an all-time record for us,” he said.
He cited 280 daily hospitalizations, also a high. Of those, 93 are in the intensive care unit.
West Virginia’s rate of spread was 1.11. Anything above 1 indicates exponential spread.
“We’ve told everyone we’ll keep everything on the table, as far as potential shutdowns and everything,” Justice said, although he demurred on describing specific actions or what exactly might prompt further preventive measures.
He later said, “We are on a heightened alert and really and if we continue on this trajectory then we’re going to reach a point in time where we’re going to have to pull back and pull back the reins.”
Justice did hint that a public service campaign is ahead with West Virginia and Marshall university coaches urging state residentsto take precautions like wearing masks and getting tested.
“We know West Virginians have done really, really, really good but we know we can do better,” Justice said.
Asked what he would do if numbers continue to go up during playoff season, Justice acknowledged he had brainstormed some courses that included halting seasons.
One possibility he described was eliminating championships but allowing teams to extend regular seasons.
“I have been open to many different variations of everything from just not having playoffs to whatever it may be,” he said.
Dolan appeared on MetroNews High School Sportsline on Wednesday evening and discussed the difficult balance.
To summarize:
- Nothing will change in current policy. The map will continue to clear/not clear teams for all rounds of the football playoffs and remaining contests in volleyball and cheerleading postseasons.
- The WVSSAC will release official playoff pairings Saturday after the 5 p.m. map release. Teams in orange and red counties will not be included and officials will ‘backfill’ spots in the field with teams from outside the Top 16. So if 7 teams in a class aren’t clear, teams 17 through 23 will be permitted entry.
- Dolan left some wiggle room for Sunday/Monday games once the football playoffs enter the later rounds, essentially giving teams that may need it “two bites at the apple.”
“I do think we are just going to have to move forward and we’ll have to see where it ends up,” Dolan said.
Reporter Joe Brocato contributed to this story.
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