ASAA adopts mask mandate for indoor state championships

As expected, Alaska Schools Activities Association has adopted a mask mandate for the upcoming state basketball tournaments.

“This action requires all of those in attendance for an indoor state tournament to wear a mask at all times. This includes all athletes, even while engaged in actual competition,” ASAA executive director Billy Strickland said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon.

The call was made during the ASAA Board of Directors meetings Monday and Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the Mat-Su Borough School District agreed to host the ASAA state championship tournaments in all four classes, 1A through 4A, in late March and early April. The decision also includes wrestling, which starts in March this year and continues through May.

Several school districts across the state have already adopted their own mask mandates, which includes athletes during competition.

“A lot of regional tournaments if they are going to happen are going to require a mask. A lot of the districts are already playing with masks,” Palmer High activities director and ASAA board president Dale Ewart said after the MSBSD agreed to host the ASAA hoops tourneys.

The Mat-Su, Anchorage and Kenai school districts are among those that are currently requiring everyone to wear masks at all times. In Fairbanks, the district has been requiring masks during practices, but not games. Ewart said everyone will be wearing masks when the Palmer, Colony and Wasilla girls and boys teams travel north this week to face West Valley, Lathrop and Monroe Catholic.

The ASAA 3A and 4A state tournaments are currently scheduled for March 25-27, and the 1A and 2A tourneys are slated for the following week. Ewart said there are many details that still need to be worked out. There are some preliminary schedules and ideas. The tentative plan is to use four local schools — Palmer High, Wasilla High, Colony High and Palmer Junior Middle — for the first day of the three-day 3A and 4A tournaments. The initial plan calls for the use of three schools — Palmer High, Wasilla High and Colony High — for the second and third days of the tournament, with games starting at 9 a.m.

Discussions regarding attendance and the 1A/2A tournaments are ongoing. This is a developing story. Continue to see frontiersman.com for more.

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at editor@frontiersman.com.