Despite approving play for fall sports on Tuesday night, the Saugus athletic department has been forced to halt all plans to play fall sports for the time being after the school district once again fell into the “red” designation by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH). Under the “red” designation, schools are not allowed to participate in the “Fall Sports I” season and must move all sports to the “Fall Sports II” season that will take place from Feb. 22-April 25.
“Saugus High School athletics for Fall I sports is temporarily on hold due to our current COVID-19 DPH metric reading of red,” the Saugus athletic department said in a statement on Twitter. “We are awaiting guidance from the state on how to proceed moving forward.”
Lynn, Revere and Winthrop are other Northeastern Conference school districts currently in the “red” designation. Lynnfield, which resides in the Cape Ann League, is also designated as “red” and has to wait on fall sports, and its school committee will revisit plans to play on Sept. 30.
As for the NEC school districts that are designated as either “yellow,” “green” or “unshaded” by the DPH, sports are moving ahead. Over the past two weeks, school committees from Swampscott, Salem, Peabody, Marblehead, Danvers, Beverly, Gloucester and Masconomet have all voted to proceed with the “Fall Sports I” season.
All schools will offer boys and girls soccer, field hockey, golf and cross country, while only Danvers will additionally offer volleyball. All other schools plan to move volleyball, an indoor sport, to the “Fall Sports II” season.
Schools plan to start practices the week of Sept. 21, with games likely starting in the second week of October.
