On March 13, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association sent a memo announcing the suspension of all NIAA sanctioned sports until further notice beginning, Monday, March 16.
This past weekend, schools were closed by order of the Governor until at least April 16,
Sports will not resume for practice or play prior to schools coming back into session.
The staff at the NIAA has been working on contingency plans for the possibility of abbreviated seasons and for region and state tournaments.
These plans are taking into account various numbers of days and weeks that may be available for competition should schools come back into session and schools be allowed to compete.
Depending on the number of days/weeks available for competition, it is anticipated in team sports (baseball, and softball) that schools will be divided within their classification into pools of 3-5 schools with play among those schools used to aid in seeding a region tournament at least to the point of being able to separate better teams in the region playoff bracket.
Depending on the time available for play, pool play could eliminate teams from the tournament.
For the individual sports of swimming & diving and track & field, entry directly into the region meet for a maximum number of entries per event per school would make up the region meet.
For boys’ golf, each school will be allowed to enter a team of six golfers in the Region Tournament.
It is anticipated at this time that competition will not go beyond the dismissal of school for the current school year whenever that may occur.
A lack of days/weeks to complete competition could result in competition through a region tournament only. It is the hope of
NIAA staff that all tournaments will be able to be held. We have currently scheduled sites for nearly all of the region and state tournaments.
Realignment
Committee Meeting
The meeting of the NIAA Realignment Committee scheduled for March 13, was postponed as schools and committee members were dealing with issues of suspension of after school activities and possible closures.
This meeting was scheduled to hear appeals by schools aligned in the 3A, 4A and 5A classifications for winter sports per the recommendation of the realignment committee.
The Committee would then adopt a final recommendation for that alignment.
Also on the agenda for the meeting was the adoption of a recommendation for tournament formats for winter sports in the 3A, 4A and 5A classifications.
It is anticipated that the realignment committee will meet in late April to deal with these issues.
Schools will be notified in advance of the scheduled meeting.
NIAA Board of
Control Meeting
The regular Spring meeting of the NIAA Board of Control originally scheduled for March 30-31, has also been postponed.
It is anticipated at this time that the meeting will take place in late April or early May, sometime after the meeting of the realignment committee.
Schools will be notified in advance of the scheduled meeting.
A special meeting of the NIAA Board of Control scheduled for March 25, to deal solely with a proposed revision of the NAC regulation dealing with eligibility of international students, will take place as scheduled at 9 a.m. Board members will join the meeting via teleconference.
Members of the public may attend in person at the NIAA Office, 1188 Victorian Plaza Circle, Sparks, NV. Provisions for appropriate social distancing will be available at the NIAA office.
