Baseball and Softball Begin Practice June 1

Last week, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced that high school summer athletic baseball and softball seasons may begin with practices starting June 1st. Both the IGHSAU Board of Directors and IHSAA Board of Control voted to approve resuming the 2020 summer seasons under Iowa Department of Education guidelines. 

In collaboration with the Central Iowa Metropolitan League (CIML), Ames High baseball and softball will begin practice on Monday, June 1. After three weeks of practice, competition for student-athletes will begin no earlier than June 20th. A schedule of games will be released at a later date. The 2020 season will only see competition from varsity and 10/JV squads via a CIML schedule with underclassmen being involved in practice/developmental scenarios and rounding out rosters on teams. Intersqaud games will take place at these lower levels after the third week of practice. 

Iowa school districts are following the “Summer Sports” and “Use of School Facilities” guidance as supplied by the Iowa Department of Education (DE), with recommendations based on conversations with the IGHSAU, IHSAA, Iowa Department of Public Health, and the governor’s office. This guidance was only for the month of June. The ISHAA and IGHSAU also released a set of guidelines that we will be referencing as we develop our local processes and procedures to ensure that practices and games are conducted in a safe way. 

Considerations are currently being developed around facilities preparation, playing equipment, scheduling, guidelines specific to players and coaches, and the overall game-day experience. This work is being done to ensure that this opportunity for our students, coaches, fans, and community is as safe as possible while knowing that even the best mitigating measures are not absolute. We reserve the right to make changes based on circumstances and additional guidance that is in the best interest of our student-athletes and coaches. As our athletic department continues to prepare for practice and competition, they will communicate specific information with student-athletes, parents, and fans in the coming days and weeks.