◆ WHSAA Commissioner Ron Laird speaks with SVI.

Culminating events canceled. Entire seasons evaporating into thin air and schools scrambling to put a bow on what has been a very strange and unique period of time for programs across the nation.

With the 2019-20 school year coming to an odd close, attentions from the Wyoming High School Activities Association (WHSAA) and other entities now turn to the summer and the impending hope of a normal fall sports slate.

For the WHSAA and its staff the biggest challenge has been the unknown.

“The spring was very frustrating because we were just in reactionary mode,” said WHSAA Commissioner Ron Laird. “This past weekend we just missed State Track. What we’ve done now is just try and be as proactive as we can. We’re all learning. We have six committees that we’ve been working with all of the six fall sports and we are trying to what-if the heck out them for a lack of a better term.”

Laird explained how the entity had created six committees, one for each of the six fall sports; football, volleyball, cross-country, golf, swimming and tennis.

“After we met with the six committees we then met with the four districts and we took the feedback that we received and tried to focus in a little more on culminating events,” he said “We will be meeting again this week and see if there is anything new that we should be considering. Our next board meeting is the first week of June.

The WHSAA is already trying to mitigate what could be considered bad ideas amid the discussion of returning to normalcy while trying to avoid creating new hot spots for the coronavirus. One example is cross-country where the initial invites such as one in Casper that has the potential to draw as many as 640 runners plus staff and fans.

“That’s not going to happen,” Laird stated “So we’re trying to spread things out a bit so we can still have a successful season for our kids.”

Other factors to consider include the natural comparison of Wyoming to neighboring states and then comparing COVID-19 numbers on a county-by-county basis. While Wyoming is near the bottom of the nation in terms of COVID related fatalities, Colorado is a hot-spot which will certainly affect how schools in southeast Wyoming will schedule and travel for out-of-state.

Within the state, Lincoln County and southwest Wyoming has been on the lower end of confirmed cases but not far away there are many more in Teton and Fremont Counties which have opponents for this upcoming fall.

“Unfortunately I don’t see any way that the competitive equity is going to be there for everything,” Laird continued. “Every county is different with some counties spiking more than others. I also think we’re going to learn a lot from the colleges and the NFL and other leagues as they come back during the summer. We just don’t know where they’re going to be at that point.”

At this point signs seem hopeful about a typical fall season with fans in the stands but the WHSAA is working with Wyoming Department of Health and others for a potentially different look.

“Right now we’ve already allowed summer workouts like weight rooms and open gyms, Laird added. “Camps have always been left up to the different school districts. I think what you’re going to see is the protocols that have to be in place no matter how things look. We haven’t even had the fan discussion yet. I can certainly see fans needing to have temperatures taken and things like that.”

Regardless of what the landscape looks like in another ten weeks, patience, adaptability and understanding will likely continue to be traits that will serve high school sports fans well in the coming months.