Tulsa Area High Schools Discuss Restart Plan For Sports

TULSA, Okla. - Oklahoma kids are wondering what the future of their sports activities will look like amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Joelle McBride's daughter is a sophomore at Edison Prep and said volleyball try-outs for the following season typically happen the week after Spring Break, but McBride said she still hasn't heard a firm date for try-outs.

Edison volleyball players and booster club parents created a video asking TPS to re-start sports.

Tulsa County superintendents sent the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association a proposal to start high school sports again, but the proposal was sent back.

Dozens of Tulsa-area superintendents, athletic directors, and school officials then created a plan to restart sports in phases.

“Their first game is August 10th and of course TPS put up a statement saying all of their facilities were closed through July 31st. So that means us being an indoor sport, volleyball cannot practice. We cannot do anything,' said McBride.

Like many high school athlete parents, McBride is worried about the late start of high school sports having a lasting impact on the students' futures when it comes to sports scholarships.

“Recruiting starts happening sophomore and junior year. There are kids that depend on people seeing them at camps. Not just our camps for TPS, but at camps that we would be attending," said McBride.

Tulsa Public Schools Athletic Director Gil Cloud said because students have been out of practice for so long, the first phase of the re-start will be weightlifting and conditioning to make sure students are healthy before returning to sports. He said officials will meet again later in June to discuss the next phase.