As schools and spring sports have been canceled for the school year it naturally leads to a lot of anxiety as to what the future holds. I certainly don't have a lot of expertise in situations like these...but very few do. I do know that common sense will keep a lot of people alive while bad luck (wrong place, wrong time) and poor decisions will cost the lives of others. Even though everything seems to overlap in this pandemic I will stick to one topic here as much as possible...that being Tennessee high school sports.

Red-shirting: TSSAA has said that red-shirting high school players is not an option. The 8-semester rule would keep that from happening unless they changed the rule and they have indicated that it is not going to happen.

Football/Girls' Soccer/Golf/Volleyball for Fall, 2020: each of these should be able to be continued with special precautions which will vary with each sport. Those precautions will evolve as time passes and ideas are passed around.

Personal Note: People like myself will not likely survive a case of COVID-19. At 67 I have had six strokes and am now diabetic. I am certainly not alone in this, either, but I am responsible for my own well-being, for the most part.

Older fans and fans with pre-existing conditions: special allowances need to be made where possible. For example, (1) letting older fans buy car passes and sit and watch from their autos where possible. (Obviously, some fields are not set up for this) (2) In the same way, allow fans to isolate themselves with lawn chairs etc, again where possible. (3) Many teams now use live video such as YouTube. That can be expanded and schools can charge to keep the teams/schools from losing too much revenue. (4) Soccer and volleyball should be able to use social-distancing for fans.

Players will not be able to avoid contact in all cases but can limit it as much as possible. The amount of contact in soccer, golf, and volleyball won't be as much as walking the halls at school...and with a lot less people. And, if there is no school then there are no sports, anyway.

Off-season practice: I am from an era, as a player in the 60s-70s, that had little off-season practice, no weight program, 4 weeks of spring practice, 4 weeks of fall practice, and play on Friday night. In fact, my senior year our teachers went on strike and we practiced 4 DAYS before our first game...and won. Coaches and players will adjust to the situation, work out on their own, and be fine. They are all in the same boat at the moment.

Strange times we live in. I have no pep talk words right now except to say do what you need to do to stay alive and still live your life to the fullest.

CoachT.com will be here for our 23rd straight year when high schools sports continue!