The MSHSL board of directors meets every two months, and the December meeting will be held Thursday. Even though winter has arrived, one of the hot topics at the meeting will be summer. Specifically, the summer coaching waiver that allows coaches to work with their school’s athletes during the summer.

Currently that can be done from Memorial Day through July, but there is a push for a shorter window that would allow more leeway for family activities and free time.

One proposal is to have a blackout period of seven to 14 days around July 4. Another is to have a sliding blackout period, with individual schools deciding when their athletes and coaches will refrain from workouts. But there are worries — with the growth of AAU, Junior Olympic and other non-school programs — about the non-school people who might step in to fill that summer coaching void.

Earlier this year, the board directed MSHSL staff to discuss the summer waiver with school representatives during area meetings in September and October. A report from those meetings will be heard at Thursday’s meeting and the board is expected to take some type of action. The board could change the waiver period or do nothing. We shall see.

What do you think should happen?

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