Greene’s Gripe: Delay is necessary to ensure high schools sports are given every opportunity to be played

There’s nothing I miss more right now than high school sports.

Sure, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed catching up with former Sandpoint stars over the past few weeks and hearing how competing at the next level is going for them. But I entered the month of March with so much excitement for what was to come this spring season that now I don’t where to go from here.

Doing in-depth previews on each of the teams and talking to athletes that had dreams of taking their teams to state got me thinking about countless storylines. It seemed like I had so much to write about and so little time. Now I have hardly anything to write about and endless time.

I took this job to write about high school sports in Sandpoint, Clark Fork and Priest River so right now I’m pretty down. But forget about me, think about the athletes. They are the ones that are really suffering.

These kids puts months and years into their respective sports. Some might have learned how to pitch before they walked. The point is, local athletes have poured their hearts into athletics for their entire lives and now they are facing the reality that an entire season could just disappear. Almost like a blip year (“Avengers: Infinity War” reference).

The Idaho High School Activities Association has yet to officially cancel the season but has suspended play until at least this coming Monday. The IHSAA Board of Directors was set to meet today to discuss extending the suspension or canceling the season all together but they have delayed their meeting until Friday. Why? Because the Idaho State Board of Education has decided they won’t release the criteria for local school districts to reopen schools until Thursday and all along the IHSAA has said they will base their decisions on what the BOE does.

Some might say why not cancel the season now? Roughly half of the states in the U.S. have already done so. And to that I say, why give up hope?

In a time where we are all being told to stay indoors and away from people as much as possible. In a time where seemingly every day another annual event and potential memories are being taken away, why not have a little bit of hope? Hope that we can get back to normal. Hope that seniors will get one last chance to write their own endings to their high school careers.

It’s a simple thing that everyone should hold onto in these uncertain, sometimes depressing times.

Is the IHSAA delaying the inevitable? They might be, but can’t we hold onto one last glimmer of belief that we will get to see the Sandpoint baseball team take the field this season.

I think waiting to make the final decision is the right one because each day new information comes in about the coronavirus. New cases, new numbers, everything seems to change by the minute. The IHSAA should exhaust every effort and every plan to get some resemblance of a season. Once that’s done and playing any sports this season is impossible, then cancel the season.

Obviously, the safety of the kids, coaches and general public is the most important thing and should take priority in every decision being made. Ultimately, I think the IHSAA will cancel the season to stop the spread of the coronavirus but why can’t athletes keep practicing on a flimsy putting green in their room, pitching into a net in their garage and running mile after mile through the streets of Sandpoint like the season starts tomorrow.

Kids play sports because they love them so don’t take that enjoyment away early if you don’t have to because in the end sports are all about having fun and creating memories that will last a lifetime.