High school sports are returning this month, but it may not be all planned sports and possibly not for everyone.

That was the message from the Oregon School Activities Association executive board after a virtual meeting on Monday. The group met to discuss developments to the status of prep sports in Oregon and to vote on possible contingency plans if restrictions aren’t lifted before seasons are scheduled to begin.

The conversations centered on the upcoming Season Two, which includes cross country, soccer, volleyball and football. A majority of the discussion focused on football, which is currently prohibited in Oregon as a full contact sport.

To get clearance to compete in tackle football, the OSAA will need a change in state guidelines to come from the Oregon Health Authority and Gov. Kate Brown. Executive director Peter Weber says that changes could be coming this week that would give football the green-light in time for a season to happen.

“Our understanding is that the contact sports and potential changes to the contact sports, that those are being worked on right now at the Govenor’s office and OHA level,” Weber said during the executive board meeting. “We anticipate some potential changes to that here in the next couple of days. We don’t know exactly what those changes are, but obviously any change to the contact sports prohibition would be an improvement over where we’re at now where they are strictly prohibited.”

If the restrictions aren’t lifted in time to hold a high school football season, the OSAA approved alternative plans to provide some form of competition for student-athletes. Flag football, seven-on-seven, virtual lineman challenges or a combine event could be available to schools. 

“I think we all know going in that not a single one of these activities is going to replace contact football. We get it,” assistant executive director Brad Garrett said Monday. “But at the same time, we are leveraging every possible opportunity to find opportunities to produce activities that kids and coaches can do together under the current guidelines.

Volleyball is another sport in limbo, with state restrictions on indoor gyms limiting many of the schools in Oregon. The OSAA clarified that schools residing in a county outside of the extreme risk level could practice and compete in volleyball.

New metrics announced on Tuesday have increased the number of counties that would be allowed to compete in volleyball. There are now 22 counties rated below extreme, including Douglas County.

While that’s good news for Douglas County volleyball players, Roseburg High School athletic director Russ Bolin realizes there are still more questions to solve. Lane, Josephine and Jackson counties are where most of Roseburg’s usual league opponents reside and all are still in the extreme risk category, leaving the RHS volleyball team with limited options for opponents.

The OSAA executive board did approve playing outdoor volleyball in counties at the extreme level and it will also consider petitions from schools to move the volleyball season to later in the school year.

Volleyball and football took up a large portion of the OSAA’s meeting, but it was noted that cross country and soccer are both cleared for practices to start on Feb. 22 and competitions on March 1.