Between the Lines

Volume 1. No 2 *** September 14, 2020

Greetings DHS Families,

I hope all families are staying healthy and safe.

This newsletter was composed with the goal of providing you with the most up-to-date information concerning our Fall athletic program and it's offerings.

As you are aware, the Dartmouth Public Schools is starting the 2020-21 school year remotely, with the goal of transitioning to a hybrid model by mid-October (AT THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL). School will look different, as will our athletic program.

On September 1, 2020, we received approval from the DPS School Committee to proceed with our Fall athletic program (sports that are cleared by DESE/EAA/MIAA for competition) while honoring the most up-to-date safety guidance and guidelines.

This will not be a "business as usual" season, as we all need to adjust our mindsets, as the goal and focus is to offer our students a safe athletic experience in an effort to promote wellness.

Below you will find information on start dates, important informational meetings, individual sport rule changes and guidelines, updated EEA standards for sports & recreational activity, schools competing in our "competition pod", links to game schedules and much more.

It is important to follow the updates that come from the DHS Athletic Department (twitter, email, press release, newsletter) and understand that there will be constant changes as we navigate the Fall season.

I sincerely appreciate your continued support and understanding, this has certainly been a challenging time for all of us.

We look forward to seeing our student-athletes participating in our program once again!

ANDREW D. CRISAFULLI

Director of Athletics

On Wednesday, August 19, 2020, The MIAA Board of Directors voted unanimously that Fall sports (those approved for participation by DESE, EEA, MIAA & local school district) will start no earlier than September 18, 2020 with preseason tryouts/practices.

Full release: (http://www.miaa.net/gen/miaa_generated_bin/documents/basic_module/MIAADESE__Joint_Sports_Guidance1.pdf)

APPROVED (and by DPS School Committee) for Fall 2020 Competition

• Golf
• Field Hockey
• Boys Soccer
• Girls Soccer
• Boys X-Country
• Girls X-Country
• Volleyball

NOT APPROVED for Fall 2020 Competition (these sports have been moved to the "Fall II" season...February 22 - April 25)

• Football
• Unified Basketball
• Competitive Cheerleading

DHS intends to offer the following sports/levels for the 2020 Fall athletic season.

Tryouts/Practices starting on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

**Practice times will be announced during our sport Zoom meetings (listed below)**

• Golf (Varsity/JV)
• Field Hockey (Varsity/JV)
• Boys & Girls Soccer (Varsity/JV)
• Boys & Girls Cross Country (Varsity/JV)
• Volleyball (Varsity/JV)

**Student-athletes (Freshman-Senior) will tryout for their sport of choice, but please note, we are only offering 2 competitive levels for each sport offering (there will not be a traditional "Freshman Team")**

• Practices and competitions this Fall are scheduled Monday - Friday only (a make-up game could be rescheduled on a Saturday, but all efforts will be made to avoid that)
• Practices are limited to 90 minutes

**Please note that may sports specific questions will be answered during our Zoom informational meetings...those dates and times are listed in this newsletter**

Field Hockey - Beth Arguin - betharguin@dartmouthschools.org

Golf - Mike Frates - michaelfrates@dartmouthschools.org

Boys Soccer - Josh Silva - joshsilva@dartmouthschools.org

Girls Soccer - Scot Boudria - scotboudria@dartmouthschools.org

Boys & Girls XC - Hilary Sousa - hilariasousa@dartmouthschools.org

Volleyball - Rachel Lassey - rachellassey@dartmouthschools.org

Families need to complete the following in order for their son/daughter to participate...

• Register on FamilyID (https://www.familyid.com/programs/2020-fall-sports-registration-17)

• Have an up-to-date sports physical on file at DHS. (please forward any updated sports physicals to Athletics Secretary Dolores Consoletti (doloresconsoletti@dartmouthschools.org)

DHS will charge their seasonal sports user fee of $50 once final rosters are created.

Here is our user fee protocol for this year:

• If a sport is started and a competition is played, there will be no refund.
• If a sport season is terminated (because of COVID-19 issues) during "Fall I" and subsequently moved to the "Fall II" season, the fee would carry over to that season.
• If a season is reduced to practice/OTAs only, there will be no refund.
• If a season is terminated prior to the first competition, and the student choose not to participated in any other athletic season in the 2020-2021 school year, a refund would be issued prior to July 1, 2021.

The DHS Athletic Department will be hosting on-line virtual sport meetings this week to discuss rules, requirements, modifications, safety precautions and seasonal information. We will also share practice times and locations during this session.

IT IS REQUIRED THAT ALL PARTICIPATING STUDENT-ATHLETES AND FAMILIES PARTICIPATE !!

**IF A STUDENT-ATHLETE AND/OR FAMILY IS NOT ABLE TO ATTEND, THEY WILL BE REQUIRED TO WATCH A RECORDING OF THE PRESENTATION AND ACKNOWLEDGE VIEWING IT**

We will host four sessions - two on Wednesday evening and two on Thursday evening.

In an effort to streamline sports specific information, we ask that the following sports attend the below meeting day/time assignments:

Wednesday, September 16, 2020 @ 6pm (Volleyball)

Wednesday, September 16, 2020 @ 7pm (Field Hockey)

Thursday, September 17th, 2020 @ 6pm (Boys & Girls Soccer)

Thursday, September 17th, 2020 @ 7pm (Golf & Cross Country)

Links to the aforementioned meetings will be sent out the day prior to the meeting.

Game schedules will be released tomorrow (9/15/2020) via our Athletic Website www.BigGreenSports.org.

Schools that are in our competition pod (for the Fall 2020 season):

• Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School
• Brockton High School
• BMC Durfee High School
• New Bedford High School
• West Bridgewater High School

DHS will also look to add Bishop Stang (in most sports) as a non-pod opponent.

**Please note, games, times and opponents are subject to change (as needed)

due to COVID-19 issues**

DHS is working on a possible OTA opportunity for our three traditional Fall sport offerings that are not cleared for competition (Football, Unified Basketball & Competitive Cheerleading).

Workouts would be aligned with the current EEA standards, requirements and guidelines.

Anticipate updates concerning possible OTA's over the next week.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker released an updated "Standards for Sports and Recreational Activities" (see document link below):

https://www.mass.gov/doc/safety-standards-for-youth-and-adult-amateur-sports-activities-phase-iii-step-1/download

As mentioned earlier, rules changes to specific sports is a necessary piece established by the EEA, DESE & MIAA in order to safely host sport practices and/or competitions. We must adhere!

Below are the sports specific rule modification and guidance...please click on the box!

ANDREW D. CRISAFULLI, M.Ed., CAA, AIC

Director of Athletics, Wellness, Health & Physical Education

@ACrisafulli02

DOLORES CONSOLETTI

Athletics Administrative Assistant

doloresconsoletti@dartmouthschools.org

Email: andrewcrisafulli@dartmouthschools.org
Website: www.BigGreenSports.org
Location: 555 Bakerville Road, Dartmouth, MA, USA
Phone: (508) 961-2700
Twitter: @BigGreenSports