(New Buffalo, MI) - The governor of Michigan is recommending a two week delay in spring sports because of rising COVID-19 numbers in the state. 

Many school districts like New Buffalo are not going along with the request.  New Buffalo High School athletic director Matt Johnson said the case numbers vary across the state and, locally, the positive test results among students and staff members have been stable for several months.  “We have one or two cases here and there.  We just don’t have those outbreaks like they might have maybe in some of the bigger cities where you got school populations that number in the thousands,” he said.

Johnson said student athletes in sports like baseball will not have to wear a mask on the playing field because of the socially distancing nature of those sports.  He said soccer players will have to wear masks while competing, though, because of how close players are to each other on the field.

The decision to go ahead with spring sports without delay was made after a meeting of school superintendents in Berrien County and local health department officials.

Spring sports were cancelled last year early in the pandemic.