Fifth District basketball doubleheaders are the latest high school sports casualty that can be blamed on COVID-19.
Schedules released by the four schools in the district this week have been updated to reflect the change.
Instead of two schools playing a boys and girls game in one gym on a date, the boys will play at one location and the girls will play at the other on the same date. For example, on January 29 Lyon County’s boys’ team will play at Trigg County while the Lyon girls will host Trigg County. The district scheduling format is the same for Livingston Central and Crittenden County.
The split-site scheduling also affects Trigg County’s games with Caldwell County on January 21. Trigg’s schedule does show a boys/girls doubleheader at Fulton City on February 20.
The scheduling change comes as the Kentucky High School Athletic Association is directing schools to have no more than a 15-percent gym capacity for home games. Commissioner Julian Tackett said at last month’s Board of Control meeting that the 15-percent includes everyone.
According to KHSAA and school information, a 15-percent cap means a gym capacity of 337 at Trigg County, 240 at Lyon County, 345 at Livingston Central, and 180 at Crittenden County.
Coaches and athletic directors in the district feel the scheduling change will allow more fans, especially family members, to see the teams play without maxing out the capacity rule.
The two largest gyms in the Second Region would see a max fan capacity of around 720 fans at Hopkinsville High and 570 at Madisonville.
In the fall, the KHSAA recommended volleyball district host schools allow a minimum of 2.5 hours between matches to allow for cleaning between games due to COVID-19 concerns. Games that have a junior varsity contest preceding a varsity contest do not require the time gap or cleaning since they usually involve most of the same players.
The KHSAA voted last month to postpone the basketball season to the first week of January. In addition to the bounty of early season and Christmas holiday tournaments that are lost to the change, the Kentucky Class 2A Championships also decided to cancel its 2021 basketball tournament.
The KHSAA Board of Control will meet on Dec. 10 and is expected to finalize the postseason formats and dates for basketball, wrestling, swimming, and cheer.
Gym Capacities at 15%*
Fifth District
Lyon County – 240
Livingston Central – 345
Crittenden County – 250
Trigg County – 337
Sixth District
Webster County – 270
Henderson County – 375
Union County – 525
Seventh District
Madisonville – 570
Dawson Springs – 180
Hopkins County Central – 450
Caldwell County – 300
Eighth District
Christian County – 450
Hopkinsville – 720
University Heights – 105
13th District
Todd County Central – 293
Logan County – 375
Russellville – 375
Franklin-Simpson – 450
