The reality of life hit close to home for most high school athletes Monday as the Idaho High School Activities Association made the tough decision to put spring sports on hold for a three-week period because of the COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, pandemic.

In consulation the past several days with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, along with superintendents and athletic directors around the state, IHSAA executive director Ty Jones made the difficult decision to pull the plug from today through April 5 out of abundance of caution for the student-athletes.

“It became apparent as we moved along throughout the state and region that we were going in this direction,” Jones said in an interview with the Tribune. “We watched closely what was going on, reaching out to our stakeholders, and we knew we weren’t going to be able to continue on the path that we were going on at this time.”

He was right. Early Sunday afternoon, the Lewiston School District decided to cancel school this week and not conduct any athletic practices and events. The district has spring break next week, and also made the decision Sunday to not have any activities going on during that time.

Jones said the association will continue to consult with health-care officials and will reassess which direction to go as far as spring sports when the three-week period is up.

Prairie’s Jon Rehder figured this was the direction things were heading.

“It was a matter of time before we were probably going to see cancellation, postponements,” said Rehder, who is in his second year as the athletic director of girls’ sports at the school. “I’ve known Ty Jones for quite some time and you’re talking about numerous school districts and if they can do what’s in the best interest of the kids, then it’s the right call.”

Rehder said the athletic directors in the Whitepine League, the conference the Pirates are a part of, already were having preliminary discussions about postponing or canceling part of the season because of COVID-19.

Kolby Krieger, Clearwater Valley’s athletic director, said the situation is unlike any he’s ever seen before.

“I’ve run state baseball and district tournaments, so I’ve seen a lot,” said Krieger, who is in his 10th year overseeing interscholastic activities with the Rams. “This is by far the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s just insane. But we’re going to roll with it and we’re just going to wait and see.”

The IHSSA, in its release, stated schools are not allowed to conduct any organized activities during the period. The hope, Jones said, is the situation will stabilize to the point where spring sports tournaments throughout the state still will be held. They currently are scheduled to be conducted May 14-16 for baseball, and May 15-16 for softball, tennis and track and field.

However, kids can continue to work out on their own and are being encouraged to do so, without coaching or organizing team activities together.

“I told all my seniors that I hope we can play and be ready,” said Krieger, who has been a teacher and a coach at Clearwater Valley for the past 16 years. “ I told my coaches to meet with the teams and that they should be doing stuff outside of school. I even told them to (have their athletes) watch a movie related to their sport (to keep them actively involved). I’m encouraging our players to communicate about their workouts with each other and challenge each other. We’re trying to set up routines outside of the sports world to keep them engaged. We just want them to stay in shape, that’s been my base message.”

The one positive that might be coming out of the situation is the number of school districts in the state that currently are on, or have scheduled, their spring breaks during this time frame.

The one thing Jones wanted to stress is the decision to cancel interscholastic activities wasn’t taken lightly.

“As tough as it was to make this call, this was the safe and prudent call,” he said. “I’m 100 percent certain about that. When you have to make decisions that impact kids on things like this, it’s tough.

“It is our hope that by doing this now, the spread will be stopped enough ... we’re looking at an end game here. There’s a chance that we could have our spring sports events by the end of May. We hope this is a pre-emptive strike, but we’re also realistic to look at those tournaments might not occur if things don’t get better.”

The athletic directors also understand there might be some heat coming from parents and from those on social media who think those involved in the decision-making process jumped to conclusions too quickly and made this decision without thinking things through.

Rehder said that just isn’t the case.

“Every decision we make in the education system is about the kids,” Rehder said. “Sometimes, people might not agree with that, but people have to realize that that’s what we’re doing.

“(Jones) came back with an explanation as to why he did it. He sent that memo out and might have gotten hammered about it, but it’s a 50-50 proposition. All in all, the ripple effect will happen. We will weather that storm and move on.”

Jones, who clearly sounded exasperated during his conversation with the Tribune, knows how difficult the decision to put activities on hold is. He has a daughter who is involved in high school cheerleading, which was set to have itsr state competition Friday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

“Her team is a pretty good team, and I’ve got to have a conversation with her tonight,” Jones said. “It’s just unforunate but it’s the situation we’re faced with right now.

“Everything we do is for the kids in some form or another. That’s who we work for and that’s why we work in this business.”

Walden may be reached at (208) 848-2258, dwalden@lmtribune.com, or on Twitter at @waldo9939.