Q&A with UIL deputy executive director Jamey Harrison

Ever since its boys basketball state tournament in San Antonio was suspended March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the UIL held out hope that it could finish that event and hold all other remaining state championship events. Alas, that won’t happen.

The UIL announced Friday that it was canceling the remainder of the spring sports seasons. The decision came hours after Gov. Greg Abbott announced that all Texas schools are to remain closed to in-person learning for the remainder of this school year.

There are still many questions to be answered as the UIL looks ahead to this summer and next fall. UIL deputy executive director Jamey Harrison chatted with SportsDayHS about what comes next.

A lot of coaches and athletes are worried that this pandemic could affect next football season. Do you think that is a possibility, and would the UIL consider a shortened season if that was the only way to play any games?

Right now we’re working very hopefully to create plans that would allow us to get a football season in, even if it looks different than we typically see. But there is so much unknown right now. It is difficult to predict.

Can you discuss any of the contingencies that the UIL is considering at this point?

We have discussed a variety of hypotheticals, but right now they are just that — hypotheticals. We understand how important our activities are, and we will do everything we can to get them in, just as we did our spring competitions. We held off as long as we could, and had plans to complete them all, if we had been given the opportunity. We have stretched our ways of thinking as many ways as possible so that we can put contingency plans out once we have just a few more details about what to expect.

Is there a timetable for when things would have to be back to normal for the UIL to have a normal high school football season in 2020?

We don’t have a timetable right now. We need to wait and get more information. The last thing we want to do is give up any more activities. Canceling the spring was a very painful decision for us, one that we certainly did not want to make. We will do everything we can to avoid having to make a similar decision in the coming academic year.

Since the UIL boys basketball state tournament started, but was never completed, will the UIL consider there to be no state champions for 2020 or will all of the teams that still had a shot to win state be declared co-state champions?

That conversation has begun. We have not finalized that conversation, nor made any final decisions.

The UIL allows school coaches to conduct strength and conditioning and sport-specific skill instruction during the summer. Under the current rules, students can have no more than two consecutive hours per day for strength and conditioning, Monday through Thursday, and a student shall attend no more than one session of supervised instruction per day. A student can attend no more than two hours per week of sport-specific skill instruction, Monday through Thursday, with a one hour maximum in any one given day.

With schools being shut down this spring, will the UIL give coaches extra time to work with their athletes this summer?

I don’t know exactly what that is going to look like, or how many hours that is going to include, but I fully expect there will be some allowances for coaches to work with kids that go well behind what we typically allow. We recognize that kids have lost a lot of time with coaches, and given what has gone on, they are going to need that time back. We will find some way to account for that.

With no schools being able to have spring football, will all teams begin fall workouts Monday Aug. 3 and have an additional scrimmage if things are back to normal by then?

They will all have that opportunity to start on that first Monday in August and add the scrimmage.

The NCAA granted athletes in spring sports an additional year of eligibility since the NCAA canceled all spring sports. Has the UIL discussed doing anything like that for high school students?

Since schools closed, temporarily and then for the remainder of the academic year, the UIL legislative council has not held a meeting. I’m certain all those conversations will be had, but I would warn against looking at the NCAA as a model. That is just a very different set of circumstances than what we deal with. They already offer five years to be eligible for four of them. That’s not something that high school associations have. But I am confident that there will be a large number of various proposals that the legislative council discusses when we meet again.

Some colleges have said they will cut certain sports to save money during the pandemic. Has the UIL considered cutting any sports?

We’ve had no conversations about eliminating competitions as a result of this. The activities we offer, we recognize have a tremendous amount of value to the students who participate in them and their communities and their schools.

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