Isaac moves or cancels some prep games
“We’re going to be out of school, and that means teams can’t play or practice.” Ken Jenkins, EBR School System activities director
No one knows for sure whether Tropical Storm Isaac will reach hurricane strength before it makes landfall along the Gulf Coast, and no one can predict exactly how the storm will impact the Baton Rouge area.
But local and area high schools began taking precautions Monday.
School closures planned throughout the area on Tuesday and Wednesday have forced schools to postpone or cancel all high school volleyball contests on those days.
The status of most football games planned for Friday night remains in limbo.
Two schools have already pushed back their game to Saturday.
Zachary will host Catholic at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Catholic-Pointe Coupee initially moved its game with Ascension Episcopal also to 11 a.m. Saturday. But the school later reversed field and moved the game back to 7 p.m. Friday at Community Park. Dutchtown at Lutcher has been tentatively moved to Sunday.
“We’re going to be out of school, and that means teams can’t play or practice,” East Baton Rouge Parish School System Activities Director Ken Jenkins said.
“There are no exceptions to this rule.
“Now if things clear up, I would be expect that the volleyball teams will be able to play Thursday and football would be fine for Friday.
“But we don’t know that for sure, so basically everybody has to wait and see what happens.”
The Louisiana High School Athletic Association leaves the decision on whether to cancel or postpone games up to its schools.
The LHSAA provides deadlines and guidelines for when and how contests can be made up.
Those guidelines were emailed to schools across Louisiana on Monday.
One decision LHSAA Executive Director Kenny Henderson did make Monday was to move the organization’s planned hardship committee hearing at its local offices from Wednesday to Friday.
“Basically, if you’re supposed to appear in front of the hardship committee at 10 a.m. Wednesday, you should plan to be here at 10 a.m. Friday,” Henderson said. “I suspect we’ll be shutting down the office at some point tomorrow and be out Wednesday. Hopefully, we can get back in the office Thursday.
“It really isn’t our place to tell the schools what to do with regular-season games like these. Those games are contracts between two schools.
“That’s why we offer guidelines like this every year, because there’s usually some threat of a storm.”
Schools are normally limited to two volleyball contests each week.
If schools wish to reschedule a contest because of a storm threat, they are allowed three matches for the week the make-up contests are scheduled.
The memo states that schools have to agree to make up nondistrict contests like the ones scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. If schools don’t agree, the contest is canceled.
Football teams can cancel nondistrict games like this week’s season openers. Schools have until midnight Monday, Sept. 3, to play a game that is postponed.
Games canceled are counted as no contest for the LHSAA’s power rankings.
Lutcher and Dutchtown were among the teams to develop a plan in case their football game set for Friday in Lutcher can’t be played then.
It has been tentatively rescheduled for Sunday afternoon.
There is no cross country meet scheduled for the Baton Rouge metro area this week.But the LHSAA does allow teams make up cross country meets and compete in more than one in a week in order to make up a missed meet.
Two New Orleans area football games were canceled: Jesuit at Hahnville and Tate, Fla., at St. Charles Catholic. West St. John, of District 9-1A, moved its game with 3A St. James to 3 p.m. Sunday.