Following Tate Reeves’ decision to close all Mississippi public schools for the remainder of the year on Tuesday, the MHSAA has followed suit on Wednesday, officially announcing the cancelation of all remaining spring year sports and activities.

“I want to thank the Executive Committee and our Sports Medicine Advisory Committee for their excellent leadership and support through what has been an unprecedented crisis for our schools,” MHSAA Executive Director Don Hinton. “We are extremely fortunate to have these exemplary leaders providing guidance and care for our Mississippi students and schools. The safety and well-being of our students, school personnel and communities is always at the very top of our list of priorities. When Gov. Reeves made the announcement schools would be closed for the remainder of the current 2019-20 school year, both MHSAA leadership and the Executive Committee felt the time had come to cancel all activities and athletics as well.”

The decision hardly comes as a surprise, with all spring and summer professional and collegiate sports leagues having been either cancelled for the year or suspended indefinitely.

From the start, the MHSAA was delayed in making decisions regarding coronavirus cancellations. Initially, with the SEC, MLB, NBA and others already closed, they stated they were “monitoring” the situation. Then, on March 16 the organization suspended all competition and practice until March 29, later pushing that date back to April 17.

“This is an extremely difficult day because we know how much work, dedication and sacrifice these students, coaches and their families have put into these sports and activities that are unable to finish their spring seasons. We join all of our schools in anticipation of a successful return to sports and activities in the fall of 2020. The MHSAA thanks everyone involved for their patience and understanding throughout this process.”

Now, as many local coaches and administrators have assumed for weeks, play will not be returning.