MSHSAA Discusses Modifications to Bylaws And Future Flexibility

Wednesday, the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) announced a series of changes to their bylaws and constitution which will allow schools to have the final say on their participation in high school activities for the 2020-21 academic year. One of the more notable changes was districts who were planning to start classes virtually can now participate in competitions. MSHSAA Executive Director Dr. Kerwin Urhahn previously told centralmoinfo.com if schools aren’t able to participate in in-person classes, then they should not be participating in sports. Centralmoinfo.com asked communications director Jason West what led to the softening of that stance.

Practices will begin as scheduled along with the start of competition. MSHSAA also announced class and district assignments for fall activities will be pushed back to September 18th. The purpose is to help the association get a better idea of which schools will, and what type of sports they plan to participate in. MSHSAA plans to hold all of its championships as scheduled. West discusses how much flexibility MSHSAA is willing to give if there are a majority of schools who decide to back out of certain, or all sports.

West admitted offering traditional fall championships in the spring would be difficult, but it’s not off the table.

The board also voted to allow teams that complete less than half of their scheduled contests to remain eligible for the postseason in their sport or activity. The association also altered its “preseason jamboree” definition to add the opportunity for two-team jamborees.

You can hear more from MSHSAA Communications Director Jason West below…