We're in the middle of the best time of the year to live in North Dakota and I'm not looking to rain on the parade by bringing up the polar opposite end of the weather spectrum but the 2020 Summer slowdown is at a historic level. Of the few topics available right now, none rise above trying to figure out how the 2020/2021 school year will go. The academic level supersedes sports, but I'll stick to the wheelhouse.
The first hurdle for the activity associations will be Fall. Since we will still be dealing with the affects of the virus, crowd sizes may be capped even for outdoor sports. Soccer wouldn't be too greatly affected by that while Volleyball & Football would be a different story, especially for the rivalry games. Setting capacity at 50% of max seating may be how the ND and MN associations go forward but how that half pie gets divided is much less easy to define. Think for instance how a Volleyball game between North & South would go with the gyms that they have. Between the families of the two teams, the place would be close to half full, so then no students? I know it's not the biggest drawer but there needs to be some ability for interested students to get in and support their friends.
And the atmosphere at the football fields across the states would also take a hit if the stands and surroundings could only be half-full, with spacing standards implemented on top but the worst outcome, in my opinion, would still be when all the activities are forced indoors.
Similar to Volleyball, there would be times when the ice houses could exceed half capacity but I think that Hockey would be able to manage at a mostly regular level while Basketball would be a different story.
Davies gym may be the best equipped to deal with new standards since they have surround seating but even they would be in a tight spot for some games. And I hate to break it to you, but there isn't an easy solution coming here & now or in a few weeks when the guidelines are announced. I do however think there is a way to manage the situation in a couple of steps.
1) Players' families should be the priority to get in but whether that means immediate family only or extended as well is a debate worth having. It may be that the decision resembles college athletics where each player is allowed an allotment of tickets but unused ones could be purchased by someone else.
With the smallest varsity rosters around ND being 12 players this past season that wouldn't allow for much peer inclusion on a game by game basis but there is a way to include them as well.
2) It would take some work to accomplish but students who would be interested in attending the games could have their names put into a pool from which 20, 30, 40, etc names would be drawn. That would go until all interested persons had been selected and then circle back to the start to keep it going. If someone had a conflict then their name could go back into the hopper for another day. There will always be students who have no interest in watching the competitions and some who would like to be at all the games. This is one way to cover the bases.
I'm not going to pretend like it would be an ideal way for the year to unfold but up against the notion of empty facilities all year, or worse no sports at all, every idea should be considered.
If you have a different idea about how 2020/21 may work then hit the comment box!
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