August in a normal year finds the students and staff at Jefferson High School excited and ready to get back to football, volleyball and cross country. This year the excitement is there but there are a lot of question marks on how it is going to happen, and still a possibility that sports may not happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At this point sports are still on but with a lot of changes. The June and July open gyms were very well attended and the kids were happy to be able to have them and to get some of the dust blown off.
The Montana High School Association has approved the start of fall sports with the first practices beginning Aug. 14 with a lot of new requirements needing to be followed. Jefferson High School will practice two times a day most days, a list of times and dates is available with all the coaches having the bus times and practice times. Most likely there will need to be two busses for each practice as limits are in place on how many can ride the bus.
While there are a lot of things needing to be worked out, the most important thing at JHS is getting the kids games and keeping them safe and healthy. With tournaments not being allowed that changed the schedules quite a lot for volleyball, and cross country has a rule this year of no more than 200 participants. That limitation takes away several of the meets that the Panthers normally attend. JHS is looking at ways to fill in the dates that are lost and hopefully some schools will step up and put on smaller meets. The JHS meet on Aug. 29 is a go at this point, but will have several new requirements that are different than the normal. Volleyball tournaments at Choteau, Jefferson High and the new large tournament at Butte Central are not being held this year. We have been able to fill in some of those dates at this point and hope to add more. Football so far has not lost any games except the JV jamboree that was scheduled for Aug. 31 in Manhattan.
The biggest hurdle right now is how schools will put on the games with the small number of attendees who will be allowed into the football and volleyball games. District 5B schools will be meeting in a couple of weeks to see if we can work out a plan on how to do this. Nothing is set at this point, but some thoughts are to allow students of the home team and parents of the kids playing, maybe a pass system of some kind. The good thing is Jefferson High School will be able to broadcast all games on the radio or on Chick Bruce’s live action on the computer. You will also be able to watch the game live with the system JHS has in place. I know some of the changes will not be popular with everyone, but we all need to remember the main thing — kids need to play and we need to do everything possible to keep them safe and healthy.
The first game scheduled for football is Aug. 28, 7 p.m. at JHS against Florence. A volleyball match has been added on the same day at Choteau, not sure of the starting time, and cross country will host its meet on Aug. 29, with the first race is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m.
The first day for teachers at JHS is Aug. 21, freshman start on Monday, Aug. 24 and the rest of the classes start Aug. 25. School days will not be normal, but plans are in place on how they will be laid out.
Jefferson High School will do everything possible to keep everyone informed, check The Boulder Monitor each week for a full schedule, contact the school, listen to the emergency radio stations — those are a few ways to stay in touch. I will be sending out emails weekly or more often if needed. If you would like to add your name to the list of contacts, email dan.sturdevant@jhs.k12.mt.us.
