WILSONVILLE, ORE. – With the increasing number of wildfires plaguing the state of Oregon, the Oregon School Activities Association has updated its recommendations surrounding when schools should cancel outdoor competitions and practices.

In a press release from the OSAA on Tuesday, the governing body of Oregon high school sports determined that games and practices shall be cancelled when the Air Quality Index (AQI) gets to the level of “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” (orange) or worse.  This is a change in guidelines from previous recommendations, which said that games and practices must be cancelled once the AQI reached “Unhealthy” (red) levels.

This means that the air quality is now required to be at “Moderate” (yellow) levels or better for teams to hold outdoor competitions and practices. A majority of the state has been at the level of “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” or worse since the start of the week and only a handful of monitoring stations were showing AQI levels of “Moderate” (yellow) or better on Wednesday morning.

The stricter requirements will make it more difficult to hold football, soccer, and cross country competitions and practices. According to the OSAA, “while Oregon Health Authority guidelines do allow for light outdoor activities in the orange level, the intensity and duration of high school practices/contests in cross country, soccer and football are not considered light activity.”

Teams can move practices indoors to avoid the poor air quality, but available indoor facilities are difficult to come by.  High school team also have the option to move contests to a location with better air quality, but with the entire state practically dealing with smoky conditions, options are limited.