honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted at 8:38 a.m., Monday, May 4, 2009

Preps: Alabama to resume sporting events

Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama High School Athletic Association is letting the games begin again.

The association decided Monday to stick to a tentative schedule outlined last week after all events were postponed due to fears over the swine flu outbreak, AHSAA executive director Steve Savarese said.

Members of the AHSAA Medical Advisory Board and Central Board of Control agreed that it would be safe to resume activities starting Tuesday. Most public schools in Madison County, where the state's first confirmed case was found, reopened on Monday.

The events were pushed back when two probable swine flu cases were discovered in a Madison elementary school.

Baseball, softball, golf and soccer playoffs resume Tuesday while the state track & field championship will be held May 7-9 at Gulf Shores, with all six classifications participating. All other AHSAA playoff events follow their original schedule.

"While we apologize for the disruption of our original playoff schedule, we made the safe decision for the children of this state and also ensured that students at all our member schools would have the opportunity to participate in our postseason athletic events," Savarese said.

The revised schedule was tentatively set last week:

TRACK & FIELD: All classes will compete at Gulf Shores Sportsplex, the 1A-3A meet Thursday and Friday and the 4A-6A meet Friday and Saturday.

SOCCER: The second round games will be Tuesday. The state tournament will be played Friday and Saturday as scheduled.

BASEBALL: Third round series will be Tuesday and Wednesday. The semifinal series, to be played Friday and Saturday as scheduled, can play one game on Friday and two games, if necessary, on Saturday if both schools agree. The state tournament (May 12-15) will be played as scheduled.

SOFTBALL: Area tournaments will be played or resumed Tuesday. Area tournaments may use a single elimination format if all schools in a tournament agree. The regional tournaments (May 8-9) and the state tournament (May 14-16) will be played as scheduled.

GOLF: All sub-state tournaments will be Tuesday. The state tournament (May 11-12) will be played as scheduled.