It could be up to another month before there is a definitive word on whether there will be high school sports in the Christmas term of the academic year that is set to start in a few weeks.

In a release by the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), organisers of high school sports in the island, last week, we were told that mid-September would be the cut-off date for the implementation of sports in the term.

ISSA and fans of high school sports are awaiting word from the Government whether they would be give the go ahead to play or if the sports lockdown would continue.

After a brief period of optimism as the Government managed to get the highly contagious disease under control, hopes are beginning to fade again following a spike in COVID-19 cases in the wake of the Government’s decision to open the island’s borders.

Traditionally, pre-season football would be in full swing as thousands of players in about 140 schools across the island prepare for the upcoming season, which usually kicks off the first Saturday in September.

Basketball and netball players would also be going through their conditioning routines as well, but there is nothing normal about the year 2020, at least not since mid-February or so, when the first cases of the coronavirus started showing up on this side of the globe.

ISSA has done all it can do.

Consulting with all the various stakeholders starting in May, and ISSA has presented their proposals to the government, and now must wait, like all the others, as the final decision is out of their hands.

With arguments flying from all angles whether to go ahead or pull the plug, very little, if any thought, has been given to the student/athletes who will be in their final season in high school and would have needed this season to get them on the radar of a US college scout and a possible scholarship offer.

study out of the USA last week said that a significant number of high school student/athletes had shown signs of depression over the possibility of sports being cancelled this coming semester out of concern over the COVID-19 pandemic.

I am willing to bet the numbers here would be just as high.