TSSAA adopts COVID-19 regulations and fall sports contingency plans

July 23, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The TSSAA Board of Control moved ahead with a contingency plan for a high school football season Wednesday, along with a list of restrictions if games are played.

Safety measures include temperature checks for athletes, coaches and personnel and also a requirement of face masks at events and limited attendance at events.

An option 2-hybrid plan was unanimously approved for football which includes an eight-game regular-season and four weeks of playoffs, but keeps flexibility open for potential scheduling changes and start dates.

The hybrid model allows the TSSAA to have a week-by-week road map. The plan accounts for the possibility that teams will not be able to begin contact practices on the date that they are scheduled to happen.

That option does not define a clear start date for football but leaves options open, depending on Gov. Bill Lee’s office granting an early exemption from the Aug. 29 state of emergency that includes no contact sports.

The board also voted on a girls soccer contingency plan that called for the season to begin Sept. 7, with the postseason beginning Nov. 11-14, should the season not be able to start on time. Teams that don’t play a maximum number of games and are eliminated from the postseason could play extra games.

“I think the TSSAA did their part putting a plan in place and if the opportunity presents itself for us to play then we do have a plan. A couple of weeks ago they (TSSAA) had a few plans out there but what they adopted today (Wednesday) was actually a new plan,” said DCHS Tiger Football Coach Steve Trapp.

The league also adopted unanimously its COVID-19 guidelines and procedures required of all member institutions who wish to compete in all athletics in the 2020-21 calendar school year.

“The regulations and guidelines the Board passed Wednesday go into effect immediately for all sports,” said Bernard Childress, Executive Director of the TSSAA. “We’re hopeful that the prohibition on contact sports will be lifted before August 29, but if it’s not, the Board of Control has put some policies in place to help keep our kids and communities safe and lay out a roadmap to the start of our football and girls’ soccer seasons.”

What the association does not yet have is an exact start date for competitions. The reasoning there is fairly straightforward: Tennessee high schools and their athletics programs, as well as myriad other entities, cannot begin practices and/or games in contact sports under Gov. Bill Lee’s current State of Emergency Order. Executive Order No. 50 promotes “social distancing and avoidance of large gatherings” and limits activities in contact sports.

“We are working hand-in-hand with the Governor’s Office,” Childress said. “Everything presented Wednesday has been vetted by the Governor’s Office, agreed upon by their legal counsel and by our legal counsel.

“The governor’s (executive order) is still in place. We cannot do anything right now other than weightlifting, conditioning, heat acclimation periods with no contact. This is not TSSAA vs. the Governor’s Office. Everything has been a joint effort and we are not in conflict. Our goal is to have an ordinary season as much as possible,” said Childress.

“ Right now as it stands our current schedule is intact and if we are able to start contact practice by a certain date then we could start our football games on time but if not then we could probably lose at least our week one game. It’s a week by week plan but right now because of the governor’s order barring contact at football practices we can’t go full pads until the order expires or is lifted and if we can’t practice for a couple of weeks in full pads we can’t play a game (on time) so although our schedule is still intact certain games could get eliminated. It just depends on the date when we can get in pads,” said Coach Trapp.

As it stands now, the TSSAA is hoping to start contact practices as originally planned. If teams start by Aug. 3, they still could start the season on time. For every week after Aug. 3 that teams can’t practice, the hybrid plan allows for TSSAA to alter the regular season and playoff schedule.

The approved hybrid plan would be used only if the season can’t start as scheduled.

For football’s “Option 2 Hybrid” plan, the state preserves the potential for a 10-game regular season and full playoff format, but also lays the groundwork for what could become an eight-game season with a reduced playoff field for Division I. Under the Option 2 Hybrid, there is a potential start date in place and a plan for the season to begin as early as Aug. 21 or as late as Sept. 18.

The plan perhaps is most succinctly summarized as thus: Once the state of Tennessee reaches the date of August 4 and the governor’s executive order declaring a State of Emergency still stands, region games originally scheduled for Week 1 of the prep football season will be moved to later, common dates that TSSAA already has modeled. As each week passes where no contact is allowed, the next week’s region games are rescheduled.

“Clearly, sports will look different this year,” said Childress. “We have to be flexible and understand that we’re in a unique situation. We’re trying to make the best decision for young people.”

In the hybrid football model, teams must complete an acclimation period and three weeks of practice before any competition. As the calendar progresses, region games will be moved to a later date and replace open dates or non region games as necessary.

The board also passed a motion of safety guidelines that will be implemented throughout the fall sports seasons and will affect all sports, cheerleading and band as well as others involved in those activities.

Included in those guidelines:

• Players, coaches and personnel will have to take a temperature check prior to practice every day. Any person with a temperature 100.4 or higher will be required to go home immediately and cannot return without a negative COVID-19 test or verification from a doctor that the temperature wasn’t a cause of COVID-19.

• No coach, player or personnel can compete without a COVID-19 questionnaire completed.

• There will be no scrimmages for all fall sports, jamborees or seven-on-seven contests. Scrimmages must be limited to intrasquad.

• Fans entering a facility must have temperatures taken (with exception given to children 2 and younger). The same guidelines that are in place for players and coaches remain. Temperature checklists must be posted prominently.

• Member schools must require fans to wear face coverings while attending events.

• Concession stands will not be prohibited but will be discouraged, with options that would ensure social distancing recommended.

• Coaches must complete a NHFS COVID-19 course, which will be provided free.

• While no exact figure was set, schools were urged to offer limited seating (from a third to a quarter capacity) during events, posting areas that were not available.

A motion also passed that any team not able to play a postseason contest because of COVID-19 would forfeit. Any regular-season games with that scenario would be considered no-contests.

The DCHS football season is currently scheduled to kick off on Friday, August 21 in Smithville against Warren County followed by another home game against Upperman on August 28. The first road game will be September 4 at Stone Memorial in Crossville.

All games start at 7:00 p.m. All opponents are the same as last year but the home and away games are reversed this year.

WJLE will have LIVE coverage each week.

The DCHS 2020 Football Schedule is as follows:
REGION OPPONENTS (*)

August 21: Warren County- Smithville 7 p.m.
August 28: Upperman-Smithville 7 p.m.
September 4: Stone Memorial*-Crossville 7 p.m.
September 11: Watertown-Smithville 7 p.m.
September 18: Grundy County- Away 7 p.m.
September 25: Cannon County-Woodbury 7 p.m.
October 2: Livingston Academy*-Smithville 7 p.m.
October 9: Smith County-Carthage 7 p.m.
October 16: Macon County*-Lafayette 7 p.m.
October 23: BYE WEEK
October 30: Cumberland County* Smithville 7 p.m.

July 23, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

A local man lost his life in a two vehicle crash Tuesday on Highway 70 east.

Dead is 32 year old Brandon Hutchings.

According to Trooper Jonathan Burke of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Hutchings was traveling west on Highway 70 in a 2008 Chevy HHR when he crossed into the path of an eastbound 2004 Ford Ranger driven by 28 year old Lauren Pavone of Smithville. The crash forced the Ford Ranger to roll over on its side and the Chevy HHR came to rest off the highway.

Hutchings was transported by DeKalb EMS to a helicopter landing zone at the Midway Fire Station and was airlifted from there to Skyline Medical Center in Nashville where he died.

Pavone was taken by EMS to Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital.

July 23, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

A 29 year old man was seriously injured Wednesday evening when his 1999 Chevy Blazer plunged off a bridge embankment and crashed into a creek bed on Dry Creek Road near the Highway 70 (West Broad Street intersection.

Trooper Bobby Johnson of the Tennessee Highway Patrol told WJLE that Rickey Hall of Smithville was north on Dry Creek Road approaching the West Broad intersection when the Chevy Blazer went off the road to the right, over the embankment at the bridge, and into the creek bed before crashing into a concrete retaining wall.

Members of the Smithville Volunteer Fire Department and extrication and rescue team helped Hall from the vehicle. He was taken by ambulance to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga. The Smithville Police Department was also on the crash scene to assist.

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