And, we’re off! (since basketball is ON!)

Here we go!

Kudos to the ADs and county executives who are making basketball and all sports happen this year. They rightly see that not allowing kids to compete is doing more damage to them than the virus ever could (at this point). We understand and sympathize with the opposite view, especially because it originates in most cases from a simple desire to protect our kids. But the controlled environment high school sports provides is as safe a place as any for them–this conclusion is supported by a great deal of research. Many studies, including one from the University of Wisconsin, have said as much.

Still, we live in an area where high school basketball games are postponed at the slightest hint of icy weather out of an abundance of caution. So, it’s hard not to imagine those in charge reacting similarly if there’s even a whiff of a widespread COVID outbreak. That’s cool. We didn’t agree with VHSL’s decision to cancel most of the championship games at Siegel Center in March, but we understand it. At the time there was very little concrete information about the virus and its spread.

So, we’re ready to go full speed ahead–for now. We had big plans for some new features and expansion in year five of novahoops.com, but most of that will have to wait. Still, the reduced public school slate gives us the opportunity to do some exciting things this year. First, once the schedules are set, we’ll have a chance to cover some of the smaller private schools’ games before the big public schools start play December 21st. Second, those public school schedules are more spread out during the week, with games Monday through Saturday. The season may be shorter, but each week we do play gives us the opportunity to cover six or more games.

That’s if schools let us into the gym. We see no reason why they wouldn’t–our reporters will be masked and maintain six feet of distance at all times–however, we respect ADs acting out of an abundance of caution. So, we’ll contact schools or coaches in advance of every game we want to cover to ask permission to cover games. We sincerely hope they allow us admittance to cover some of the kids in Northern Virginia who completely deserve recognition.

In short, novahoops.com knows nothing but full speed ahead. There can be a ton of basketball the next three months or just a smattering–we’re still looking forward to covering it all.

See you in the gym!

Chris Jollay
Founder, novahoops.com