With Gov. Asa Hutchinson's announcement regarding the return of team sports in Arkansas, we are finally -- at long last -- getting an idea that sports may indeed take place this fall.
That's the good news.
But there were also some questions, and maybe the answers to those are soon to come.
The governor's mandate says that limited contact sports such as baseball, softball, golf, track and field, cross country, tennis and bowling will be allowed to have competition events beginning June 1.
Contact sports such as football, basketball, wrestling, volleyball and soccer are still prohibited from holding practices and competition, but they can work out in small groups.
As I've been told, one of the big hang-ups regarding those contact sports, such as football, is that no ball can be used in workouts.
But yet, a baseball, a softball, a tennis ball, a golf ball, which could end up being touched by multiple people as well, is permitted in the sports that are allowed to begin competition.
I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer by any means, but that doesn't make sense to me. How about you?
I expect that we will get some clarity on this issue as the weeks go forward.
Siloam Springs athletics director Ken Harriman said Thursday that he will be meeting with his coaches this week to begin preparations for starting back up June 1.
At the very least, I would assume that the cross country teams and golf teams for Siloam Springs High School will officially begin team-held practices in the coming weeks as those seasons are right around the corner. No doubt though that those athletes have already been running and golfing on their own during the last two months, but I bet it will be nice to get together as a team.
There is also speculation that the Arkansas Activities Association may lift the annual dead period that was scheduled for the last week in June and first week in July.
We've been in a dead period since mid-March. The kids and coaches have had a break. However, that summer dead period was set in advance and people may have already made plans, which would make it difficult to enforce anything mandatory during that time.
I realize that it seems we have more questions than answers with these recent announcements, but it's good to see these conversations taking place.
I have to give props to Gov. Hutchinson and Dr. Nate Smith and their staffs during this time as well. These leaders have been at it every single day for the last two months and then some.
We all want to be safe and do all we can to avoid a relapse of this nightmare, but at the same time we want sports back. We've missed it dearly.
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Graham Thomas is the managing editor for the Herald-Leader. He can be reached at [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Sports on 05/24/2020