NEW ULM — High school fall football and volleyball may yet be a possibility in Minnesota this year.

On Wednesday the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) sent out surveys to all high schools to get their opinion on their feelings and concerns about possibly restarting both seasons in the near future.

MSHSL Director Erich Martens Wednesday evening that the league has been tracking where things would fire best after moving the season forward to spring, and how well schools are managing. “Some of our board members began asking questions about is there a possibility or an option for us to reconsider? We had a workshop scheduled for Tuesday that was planned nearly a month ago. There were questions asked and considerations were brought forward. We had a discussion and ultimately our president called for a special board meeting to reconsider where we are with fall activities.”

The elephant in the room for fall activities has been the concern over COVID-19 that forced the MSHSL earlier to move the football and volleyball season from this fall to the spring of 2021.

“That continues to be the primary concern and question that we have,” said Martens. “Right now there are a number of games that are being played and we are monitoring and watching them. We have communicated with the Minnesota Department of Health and continue to work with them and see what their best guidance is around student activities and school. We want to make things as safe as possible and still provide opportunities for kids.”

Martens said that the MSHSL is in constant conversations with the high school football coaches in Minnesota.

“They continue to dialogue with us,” he said.

Another concern that the MSHSL had with moving football to the spring was the fields available.

“Especially in the northern part of the state, but at the same time we know that winter is coming and it gets here sooner in certain parts of the state so weather is always a consideration, as are the fields and the conditions under which kids play.”

Martens said that the survey that went on Wednesday to schools has questions asking if schools would prefer football this fall to keep it at next spring. “The same question was asked for volleyball and we also asked for specific reasons and the most important reasons why they support their reasoning.”

Martens is hoping that the MSHSL can get all responses back Thursday. “We want to start pulling that data together.”

New Ulm Cathedral Activities Director Alan Woitas, who said he is in favor of starting football and volleyball up this fall, said that there are people who are questioning why the MSHSL decided to move football and volleyball to next spring.

“Overall, moving it back to the fall pushes spring sports back to their regular season, which increases participation in those sports especially at the smaller schools,” said Woitas. “For some the lack of a football field that is not turf (means they) would have a hard time playing football in late March and early April.”

As far as when high school football would start, Woitas said that the MSHSL did not give them a specific time line. “They did not give us a potential start date or what a season may look like or how late into the fall and winter would the fall seasons run. There are a lot of unknowns.”

“Getting kids back into things they are passionate about is a good thing” added Woitas.“COVID is a concern for any sports season that you have going on. But we have seen soccer happen without many issues — there is not a lot of contact in soccer as there is in football.”

“Kids are in a close proximity to each other playing soccer and there has not been any issue. But everybody has to decide what risk they are comfortable with and we respect them for that. But there is nothing to say that this spring there will not be those same risks present as well.”

Like Woitas, Minnesota Valley Lutheran Activities Director Craig Morgan feels that getting kids back to a normal routine is important.

“And we are the only state in the upper Midwest that is not playing volleyball or football,” said Morgan. “I like it because it has not impacted any of the other states around us that are doing it. The kids need to get back to some form of normalcy. Their eyes lit up when they started talking about it (Wednesday) and they were excited.”

“Right now you have kids walking through the halls worried and they need something to get excited about. Our cross country kids are loving their year because they are competing.”

Meanwhile the Big South Conference expressed concerns regarding the potential start-up of both football and volleyball this fall.

Parts of the Big South letter to the MSHSL complains that the MSHSL is asking “schools to answer quickly something that requires good thought and input from our boards, coaches, athletic directors and students. Giving schools less than 26 hours to respond is poor leadership and poor management.”

Other Big South concerns include:

What will fall and spring seasons look like regarding number of games and playoff formats?

Scheduling of seasons and changes needed to do winter and spring seasons (condensing all seasons this year to make it work).

Considerations for schools forced to Distance Learn due to COVID county numbers.

Will there be enough officials for both sports scheduled in the last minute?

Can students who choose a different fall activity move to football or volleyball now and not have eligibility issues?

What will happen with fall practice seasons for softball and baseball, golf and track the MSHSL Board approved in August?

And will spectators be allowed this fall at both indoor and outdoor competitions and at what capacity?

They conclude their letter to the MSHSL in saying that “This list is not inclusive of all concerns as the short notice has given all schools limited time to respond to the large decision. The Big South Conference supports students involvement in all activities but what you are asking all districts to respond to is not realistic or practical without further information.”

Martens said that if volleyball and football do start up this fall there would be restrictions and fan limits.