The Ohio High School Athletic Association announced a tentative schedule for spring sports on Wednesday afternoon, should schools resume before the current school year is over.
Schools across the state have been closed since March 17 with no practices or contact between coaches and players because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Governor Mike DeWine currently has a stay-at-home order in place until May 1, with in-school classes set to resume on Monday, May 4. The proposed schedule by the OHSAA is contingent on the stay-at-home order being lifted on May 1. If schools are closed for the remainder of the school year, spring sports will be canceled in Ohio.
The non-interscholastic start date and acclimation period for baseball, softball, lacrosse, tennis and track and field is May 4-8 with the season beginning for all sports on May 9.
The biggest change is that the postseason tournaments will go deep into the month of June. The latest tournaments include state track and field and state softball being held during the final weekend of June.
For now, the mandatory no-contact period remains in place until at least May 1. No practices or group workouts may occur through this date. Electronic communication is permitted and encouraged for coaches to correspond and provide workouts to do at home. And although the regular season is shorter, schools can continue to schedule contests until the end of the season.
The dates given for the spring season are tentative as the OHSAA continues to work with Governor DeWine. If for any reason specific sites are shut down due to the governor’s orders, all sites will be shut down and a tournament will not be held. For the complete update by the OHSAA go to https://ohsaa.org/news- media/articles/school-administrators-update-april-8