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TSSAA opts to keep dead period in place




WILL KRIESKY

WILL KRIESKY

There will be no need for families with school-age athletes to alter their mid-summer vacations.

In a special-called TSSAA Legislative Council meeting Thursday afternoon, a motion to waive the two-week dead period failed after a 6-6 vote. The break, when all athletic facilities are closed and coaches cannot have contact with athletes, will go on as scheduled June 22-July 5.

TSSAA Executive Director Bernard Childress, who does not have a vote on the council, was adamant about keeping the dead period intact. He received only a few emails in favor of eliminating the dead period, while most coaches and parents said they had already planned around the annual break.

“We don’t ever want to put sports before families, and many families make plans for the dead period every year,” Childress said. “This is not the first year we’ve had the dead period and as eager as coaches are to get back to their routine, the Council ultimately felt that there wasn’t a strong enough case for doing away with it this year.”

“They’ve put is in a tough situation over a month and said that the dead period was the same,” Riverdale coach Will Kriesky said Wednesday. “After that, I emailed my parents and said the dead period would be the same. They’ve put coaches in a very difficult spot.

“My wife asked me over a month ago and I told her to continue with vacation but I don’t know. We’ll do what they tell us to do. We didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Legislative Council president Dan Black called the meeting to discuss the possible elimination of the dead period after school sports were paused for more than two months amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But a split vote meant that there would be no changes.

Autumn O’Bryan (Cleveland), Bo Griffin (Millington), Les Trotter (Waverly Central), Keith Turner (Science Hill), Rob Speas (Hardin Valley) and Dexter Williams (West Carroll) voted in favor of the motion to lift the dead period. Dan Black (Bradford), Art Crook (Station Camp), Tom Densford (St. George’s), Robert Sain (MTCS), Kenny Sholl (McCallie) and Greg Wyant (Siegel) voted against it.

Crook, the longtime principal at Station Camp, said most coaches he spoke with wanted the dead period to be left alone. That included representatives from Montgomery County, where teams won’t return to workouts until at least July 5.

“They are one of the systems that aren’t starting (sports) until July, and they were very much against (the motion) because then it gives more two weeks (of an advantage) for teams that aren’t in their county who they play,” Crook said.

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