Lee Academy suspends basketball and moves to remote learning during COVID surge
The mounting quantity of coronavirus conditions in schools is having its toll on the substantial college basketball year.
The most up-to-date illustration is Lee Academy, in which the varsity teams have been shut down temporarily as the faculty switches to remote understanding commencing Tuesday to handle a spike in COVID-19 scenarios.
“It came quickly,” Lee boys basketball coach and athletic administrator Randy Harris said. “We started off past Tuesday with a couple of boys on my staff testing constructive and it took off from there and now we’re up to about 30 [students].”
Lee Academy did not perform in-individual courses on Monday in order for teachers to put together for distant discovering, which presently is scheduled to run from Tuesday by way of Friday, Jan. 21, according to a submit on the school’s Fb site.
The distant studying status also means a cancellation of extracurricular things to do at the college, which will include 5 boys varsity online games and six girls varsity online games that had been scheduled in the course of that time.
“I’ve been on the phone all working day extensive contacting men and women making an attempt to reschedule women/boys doubleheaders and seeking to locate out which groups we can fall online games with and not make them up without messing up too numerous people’s schedules,” Harris said.
“We’re likely to try to reschedule some of them, but by the time we get back there is only two entire months and element of a third 7 days still left [in the regular season] and the boys will only have performed five video games and the women will have played six. I would guess we won’t play three or 4 online games each individual and check out to perform 14 or 15 online games every single if we can.”
Standard-year basketball play is scheduled to conclude on Thursday, Feb. 10, with the very first spherical of enjoy-in online games slated for Saturday, Feb. 12, in accordance to the Maine Principals’ Association.
As was the situation final spring and tumble, the MPA will conduct open tournaments in all of its Mend point-ruled sports activities — like basketball — this wintertime, that means that Lee won’t be penalized for any varsity video games it is not able to enjoy owing to COVID-19 and continue to will be eligible for postseason perform.
The Lee boys crew began this 7 days rated fourth in the Course C North Recover details with a 3-2 document but had not played a video game considering that its 58-45 victory above Stearns of Millinocket on Jan. 3 at Mallett Gymnasium in Lee.
Shortly after that game, players on the crew began contracting COVID-19, and the selection of learners in the course of the faculty that tested beneficial for the coronavirus ongoing to boost right until college officers opted on Sunday to switch to distant mastering.
“We played previous Monday in opposition to Stearns, and then I shut down the group for the relaxation of the week and postponed a pair of game titles for the reason that we were being beginning to get it, so we’re essentially likely to be three months before we start playing all over again and then we’ll come back again and enjoy four online games that to start with 7 days right after 3 weeks devoid of accomplishing just about anything,” Harris mentioned.
This will mark the second stoppage for the Lee women group, Harris reported.
The Pandas (1-5) started their schedule with a 57-21 victory above Shead of Eastport on Dec. 10 that ended the team’s 89-video game getting rid of streak, then did not participate in once again right until a decline to Woodland on Dec. 27.
