NMAA releases tentative schedule

CLOVIS — Courtesy of the coronavirus pandemic, the calendar for New Mexico Activities Association sports was already pretty full with its scheduled start in January for everything except volleyball, cross country and some tennis.

Last week, it became even fuller when the NMAA announced a revised slate which now also includes those activities.

Of course, everything is still subject to more change.

“I really have a bad feeling about it; I don’t know if we’re going to play,” Clovis High girls basketball coach Jeff Reed said. “Things that could help are if something changes after (next week’s) election, or maybe finding a vaccine.”

The volleyball season is now set to begin on March 1, with state competition from April 26-May 1. Cross country starts Feb. 15, with state finals March 19-20.

Basketball and swimming are to be the first sports to start, with full practices set for Jan. 4. An abbreviated basketball regular season, with no in-season or district tournaments, would culminate with eight-team state tourneys — instead of the usual 16 — from March 1-13.

Quarterfinal-round games at the home sites of higher seeds are set for the first week, with semifinals and finals in the Albuquerque area the second week. Those would also be the first two weeks of games for football season.

Reed said the only things teams can do are to prepare — and hope.

“The only thing worse than not having a season is not being ready for it,” he said. “If it doesn’t happen, it’s out of our control.”

Portales High boys basketball coach Rickie McBroom said it’s important for programs to work together.

“I just hope the kids get to play,” he said. “That’s the important thing. We’ll figure out the rest of it.”

Basketball teams have a maximum of 18 games — down from the usual 26. They would also have to travel back and forth for state semifinal and championship games, which will be spaced out over three days, instead of staying overnight in the Albuquerque area.

They’re also facing numerous three-game weeks. The first date for games is Saturday, Jan. 9.

“We’re going to play three or four games a week in January, once we get past that first Saturday,” McBroom said.

It will take some creativity for athletes who, for example, want to play football and basketball.

“The kids can do both,” McBroom said. “We’re trying to stay as positive as we can. The kids are what it’s all about.”

Smaller schools figure to have more problems with overlap, with a higher percentage of athletes who play two or three sports. But Melrose boys basketball coach Kevin Lackey said many of the smaller schools won’t start football until after state basketball.

“It’s going to be wild,” said Lackey, whose squads have won the last three Class 1A state titles. “We’ll try to support the kids and support the other sports to make it all work.”

The state originally allowed pods of nine players per coach in practice. That is now down to a 4-1 ratio, which limits how much you can actually do.

With the Jan. 4 start, basketball teams will jump into the season with little full-team preparation for the potential start of competition less than a week later.

“It’s going to be difficult in as much as you’re just going to have five or six (full) practices (before playing),” Lackey said. “But it’s certainly better than the alternative (not playing).”

Some small-school classes have as many as seven districts, meaning only one at-large team would make the state field in basketball. For example, Melrose, Logan and Fort Sumner, all in the same district, have been at or near the top in 1A in recent years, and that means at least one of those teams would be left out.

“The biggest thing I see is you’ve always been working with a minimum amount of time to practice before the first game,” Texico girls coach Richard Luscombe said. “If it was 9-1 (in pods), you could get a few more things done. We’re doing some things right now, but it’s almost all just shooting and things of that nature.”

He noted that many of his players also play volleyball, which would again likely create some juggling come early March.

“This is the first year in a long time, maybe ever, where every basketball player plays volleyball,” Luscombe said. “We’ll have to wait and see (how it plays out).

“It’s ‘hurry up and wait.’ There’s really nothing (else) you can do right now.”