When Craig McVay was appointed to the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association Board, he says he knew he was going to make tough decisions that affected the future of athletes.

Never did the El Reno superintendent imagine that in his first year on the board he would have to help make the call that ended the season for thousands of student-athletes across the state – with more than 100 of those being his own.

McVay made the motion to approve Thursday and then cast a yes vote as the OSSAA board unanimously pulled the plug on sports in high schools across Oklahoma this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was hard to say yes. I commented in the meeting that it was crushing to our squads in El Reno because they did everything they had been asked to do to play this spring.

“I know it was hard for our coaches to accept this and for the seniors, they won’t have a senior night and that’s crushing that they will have that lack of closure,” said McVay.

The OSSAA board followed the lead of the Oklahoma State Department of Education, which a day earlier closed all high school campuses for the remainder of the 2019-20 school term and set the ending date for the year as the week of May 8-15.

“I asked about the possibility of a June event a lot like the Olympic Festival we had in Oklahoma City in 1989. I could tell there had been some discussion but the OSSAA staff said it was not appropriate to do something like that.

“We all knew it was best and you don’t want to put a lot of people together and have the chance that they could get sick and die,” said McVay.

In addition to canceling all spring activities, the OSSAA board voted that the state basketball tournaments for Classes 2A through 6A would not take place.

“I completely support David Jackson (OSSAA executive director) and his staff for putting an end to this. It was a tough call to make but it was the way to go,” said McVay.

In a nutshell, there will be no spring sports for El Reno in baseball, golf, tennis, track and soccer. All sporting facilities owned by the district are shuttered until at least May 15.

One of the biggest losers for the Indians is the football program, which was set to host the state powerlifting meets for both large and small schools at Jenks Simmons Field House.

It’s a fundraising event for the program that pulls in tens of thousands of dollars.

“I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for us but this will be a big financial hit. There will be no way to recoup that money and I’m also not planning to sell corporate sponsorships this year due to the way businesses in town are in a bind.

“It’s a safety issue and we cannot take the chance of getting people sick,” said El Reno head football coach Chuck Atchison.

Football also lost its mandated 10 days of spring drills, which usually start in early May after the last state championship in spring sports had been determined.

“Right now I’m worried we could lose our summer program and not see our kids until after the OSSAA’s dead period. If we can start our summer pride program on June 1, we could still be all right and we could get in our seven-on-seven football league and our four-day team camp in July.

“Right now my summer calendar has totally changed and I really can’t say what we can do until May 15,” said Atchison.

The OSSAA ruling on spring sports is as follows:

For the purpose of all OSSAA member school activities, all school personnel, including certified, adjunct or volunteer coaches, as well as teachers, directors or instructors are prohibited from engaging in any type of OSSAA member school activity involving secondary students - no practice, instruction, training, weightlifting, tryouts, competition or travel is permitted.

“As a former player and with my coaching background, I cannot imagine what the fallout will be with no preparation for fall sports this summer. We cannot put the kids out there in the August heat without any conditioning ahead of time,” said McVay.

June is usually the month El Reno coaches hold youth camps in as many as seven sports. It’s the month that volleyball and baseball play in summer leagues and softball has several scrimmages.

“Right now I don’t know about our summer league,” said El Reno head baseball coach Keith Hill, whose varsity team was 5-0 this spring when the season was halted.

McVay said he is not sure about the status of summer sports and the OSSAA put out the following statement:

Until further notice, no OSSAA member school activities will be permitted. The timeline for the beginning of summer activities will be provided to member schools at a time when CDC recommendations as well as state and local government recommendations allow for safe participation.

“I don’t know about summer baseball or any sport and there is some debate. We don’t know what mandates are coming and there is a chance all high school events involving the OSSAA could be canceled until Aug. 1.

“We have not closed our facilities for the summer yet, but they are all shut down until May 15.

“We are waiting for clarification from the governor’s office for the period of May 15 to June 30,” said McVay.