TSSAA Board of Control Delays Vote on Fall Sports Contingency Plan(s)
“We think it would be best to delay any vote on any contingency plan,” said TSSAA President Bernard Childress.
Childress proffered the idea of letting the governor’s legal counsel watching the data.
“There will come a time when we have to present a decision of the contingency plan, but right now the legal council will have to continue to watch the data.”
Though he spoke eloquently, most of what President Childress said after the proposal to delay was a re-iteration or rephrasing of this declarative sentence.
“Let’s hope for the best and we need to plan for the worst. We have the plans, but it is not necessary for us to make that decision today. What we have to do is let them watch the data.
If we have any chance on having fall sports, what we would echo, you need to help us out. People need to wear masks. You need to social distance and wash your hands. We need to get our numbers down. The return on that investment would be that we do get to have fall sports, hopefully on time this year.
We want to continue to work with the governor’s legal counsel. We will update the board and the public and everyone when we come to a final decision with them.”
Secondary Topic
The NFHS Network sent a memo on the Pixellot camera. Schools have the opportunity to live-stream their events through that platform.
“Those cameras are significantly expensive,” shared Matthew Gillespie. “They are a lot more than most school budget’s can handle.”
A couple of schools purchased them last year and used them. Pixellot cameras are automated and follow the flow of the action from side to side, usually. I noticed some struggles on a single Pixellot feed last winter, but maybe that was due to poor human configuration. The video feed of that specific game tracked the game from one baseline to the halfcourt line, making half of the game completely invisible.
“Now, they have informed us that they are going to provide two of these Pixellot cameras to every school for free. They used to be $5,000 each. There were offering some deal like buy one, get one half-priced (before). We encourage all board members, all administrators, all athletic directors to get on board with this.”
One problem high school athletic programs and schools were fighting was the lack of student volunteers and knowledge to set up/run the cheaper cameras provided before.
The thought from Gillespie is that this will be a wonderful no-cost opportunity.
In regards to 2021-22 school year: TSSAA Board of Control's classification session will be July 22 at 1 p.m. at Siegel High School.
— Charles Pulliam (@cspulliam) July 8, 2020
Follow exceptional writer Charles Pullium of the Williamson Herald @cspulliam. Also, track recruiting information with @AndrewForce8.