SPRING IS OVER

It's official. The spring sports season in Montana has been canceled.

Wednesday afternoon, the Montana High School Association released a statement by executive director Mark Beckman after the press conference by Gov. Steve Bullock explaining the phases of reopening for Montana, starting with the first phase this weekend.

The MHSA and Beckman's summarized statement was as follows.

"As you are aware, the governor has issued a reopening plan for the state, which included local school districts to determine allowing in-person instruction on May 7," Beckman's release read. "Because of the previous MHSA Board action, resumption of spring activities depended on our students' ability to return to in-person instruction without restrictions by May 4, and if in-person instruction didn't resume by that time without restrictions, spring activities would be canceled. The spring 2020 season is canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which is affecting communities across our country."

After the extension of the postponement of spring sports was put in place on Apr. 9 by the MHSA, with the COVID-19 concern being the factor of the initial cancellation, the goal was to have in-class schooling resume by May 4, which would then have the MHSA continuing the spring sports season. But with Bullock allowing in-person instruction to start on May 7, it clashed with the strict deadline that the MHSA set to have a season in the spring.

The decision hit hard for many players, coaches and fans and Havre High athletic director Dennis Murphy understands the feelings that came with the ruling.

"The cancellation is tough for a lot of people," Murphy said. "There's no doubt about that. This is something we've never had to face before and we don't have plans. Everything we're doing now is new and we're learning. It's frustrating for a lot of people. It goes from the first-year athlete to the senior athlete. It's a difficult time."

Longtime Blue Pony head tennis coach George Ferguson also weighed in on the subject, though he said, it's an emotional issue for him.

"First, I will say, I fully support the MHSA's decision," Ferguson said. "I believe they have the best interests of our student-athletes and our coaches, and everybody at heart on this. They care about our safety just like we as coaches care about the health and safety of every one of our student-athletes, and at the end of the day, that's the biggest issue - health and safety. So I understand exactly where the MHSA is coming from on this.

"But, just because I understand, and agree with it, that doesn't make me feel any better, at least in the short term," he continued. "This hurts us all who are involved with spring sports. I think I can speak for all of Havre High's spring coaches and athletes when I say, we're absolutely crushed that 2020 will be lost to us forever. We're hurting so much for our seniors, who will never have closure to their careers in tennis, or softball or track and field. We're hurting for every single one of our kids who were on our teams this year. And as coaches, we feel for each other, too, because this is our passion, this is what we love to do. I count the days and months, every year, until spring rolls around. I love coaching tennis at Havre High so much. So it's a sad, confusing and frustrating time for all of us, and, for me personally, it's going to take some time to really put it all in perspective. It's just a really sad day for so many kids and coaches here in Havre, and all over Montana."

And now with the spring season gone, many are left wondering what will happen to the summer and fall sports in the future. The phased reopening will take some time and the future of the other sports seasons are still uncertain, but many are hoping that things go smoothly with the reopening.

Murphy is among those people, as he has hope that the 2020 year will not see an absence of high school sports.

"I'm hoping, as I think everybody else is, is that all the measures that we've put in place to this point has hopefully flattened or slowed the curve of the disease down that we're able to manage it in the fall," Murphy said. "We live in the greatest country in the world and there are people out there that are trying to combat this so it never happens again. But I'm hoping that our fall season starts off as planned. Hopefully, everything we've done to this point with social distancing that we're able to move forward as normal as we can in the fall."

With that, the spring sports season in Montana will not happen, but with the policies that have been set forth with the phased reopening, there is some hope for sports to take the field in the future. For now, though, the only thing to do is make sure that that hope stays alive as the year goes forward.