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Photo Credit: Cole Young

Inside every coach’s office, principal’s office and administration building the planning for the start of the 2020 school year is well underway.

But with the COVID-19 virus hanging like a black cloud over every school, the anxiety of what will and won’t happen in August or if school will even begin creates one giant question mark.

With everything happening with a global pandemic at times high school football seems trivial. At the same time, the return of football on Friday nights may provide a level of normalcy schools and towns need.

If or when a second round of this wave hits, it seems unlikely that Missouri will declare a statewide school closure like it did back in March. What that could mean is smaller schools especially in rural areas could have the best chance to have a football season.

And since there’s more questions than answers, here’s another question: Will as many players come out for teams as they did in the past? My initial reaction says yes.

When the issue could come up however is if you see a 10 or 15 percent decrease in participation that could prove troublesome for many Class 1 and Class 2 teams that have enough trouble trying to come up with enough players to field a team.

With under three months until the season is set to begin, there are sure to be numerous levels of checks and balances put into place before anything close to football can begin. Already the National Federation of State High School Associations has put out guidelines of how to get back on the field.

What will be interesting is to see how each area of the state has restrictions when the season rolls around. For example, what’s allowed in terms of games and crowds is bound to be different in Bates and Ray Counties versus what is allowed in Kansas City and Jackson County.