Coming next year: a week without sports

Alex Nelson loathed the lazy days of summer. Nelson, a recent graduate of Andover High School, played volleyball, hockey and softball with a passion no calendar could contain.

"I live to play sports," said Nelson, who will play women's hockey at St. Cloud State this fall. "If I have one or two days off in the summer, I go to my parents and ask, 'When is my next event?'"

Not everyone shares Nelson's enthusiasm for a sports-filled summer, leading the Minnesota State High School League to approve a no-contact period for coaches and student-athletes effective July 1-7, 2010. The amendment, which the MSHSL representative assembly passed by a 43-2 vote, calls for an Independence Week of sorts, a small piece of summer reserved for athletes and their families.

"The kids need breaks," MSHSL executive director Dave Stead said. "They are not collegians connected through a scholarship to play a sport. The good coaches know that, and they'll make the adjustments."

Metro-area coaches, while acknowledging a seven-day moratorium is not a big deal -- Apple Valley wrestling coach Jim Jackson called it "trivial" -- question two principal implications. Girls' basketball coaches Faith Patterson of Minneapolis North and Ray Finley of Providence Academy wondered what message is being sent when only high school coaches -- not AAU basketball coaches -- are asked to provide time for kids to be kids.

And Blaine boys' hockey coach Dave Aus and Spring Lake Park boys' basketball coach Grant Guzy are concerned that the MSHSL might decide to expand the no-contact period. If that happened, Wayzata football coach Brad Anderson worries that athletes choosing to invest in private instruction might not get a worthwhile return.

Stead said that athletes can participate on summer teams and that schools can still have open gyms and weight rooms where coaches are present, "provided that the open gym and open weight rooms are not limited to a specific activity and that a coach is not present for coaching."

Patterson, noting the long varsity season and her high expectations, does not object to a break from her players. Every returning Polars player is on an AAU roster this summer, and though Patterson knows her players will benefit from the exposure and experience, she is cautious about the MSHSL's decision to "limit what a high school coach can do while empowering AAU coaches. You have to wonder what's next."

Finley, who coaches the Metro Stars AAU team, said he believes club sports should support -- not supersede -- an athlete's desire to help a high school team reach the state tournament.

Stead pointed out that AAU seasons begin after the state tournaments in March and doesn't think "a week away from kids is going to give AAU an advantage that will take kids away from the coaching they may want to have with a high school coach."

Stead also said that worries about a longer no-contact period are premature. Stead said the MSHSL board approved the measure after "about a two- or three-year study" requested by member schools.

The Michigan High School Athletic Association established a similar summer no-contact period in 2007. Associate director Tom Rashid said schools can choose their own seven-day break to be completed by Aug. 1, and about 95 percent do so over the Fourth of July. Adjusting to the new rule, Rashid said, took time.

"We probably had 100 phone calls that first summer, maybe more, from coaches asking, 'I can't do this? I can't do that?' Rashid said. "The amount of agony in the first year of the program to find 168 hours of no high school sports led me to believe that we absolutely needed something to pull the reins back."

Nelson said she would have opposed a no-contact period. She relished playing on teams with her friends and sought coaches' input to help her improve. But she can understands why some athletes and coaches might appreciate a break. And some metro-area coaches are already at peace with the forthcoming no-contact period, noting they already reduce the number of open gyms or ice times around the Fourth of July. Anderson said he is looking forward to some time away.

"There might be some coaches who, after they get that week, would fight like heck not to lose it," he said. "For coaches, the expectations have been raised. Fitting in a family trip is getting more and more difficult. It'll be a much-needed break, and if it's done right, I think it'll benefit everyone involved."

David La Vaque • 612-673-7574