The MPSSAA has just released the following contingency plan for the Boys and Girls State Basketball Championships which are scheduled to be played on Thursday, March 12th through Saturday, March 14th with the following modifications. Unfortunately, recent developments have forced all entities to determine the events will be held in a "closed gym" format, but will remain at Towson University and the University of Maryland-College Park.
The state basketball championships will be a "closed gym" at the venues listed above in which only the following individuals will be allowed into the contest:
- Essential Tournament staffing.
- Participating teams limited to the official party of 21 as detailed on page 8 of the MPSSAA Winter Bulletin.
- Certified Athletic Trainer of participating teams.
- Game Officials.
- Parents or legal guardians of participating players and significant others of coaching staff.
- Superintendent or Superintendent designee for Athletics.
- School Principal.
- School Athletic Director.
All online ticket sales already purchased for the Boys and Girls Basketball State Championships will be voided and fully refunded. School athletic directors will be contacted to provide a list of parents/legal guardians and instructions for those individuals to obtain tickets to these events. The MPSSAA has set up an online streaming service of all games. Every Boys and Girls State Semifinal and Final game from Towson University and the University of Maryland-College Park will now be streamed live on the NFHS Network for a subscription fee.
Members of the media will not be eligible to attend and will be provided a link to watch the contests online in real time. Members of the media who have registered online for media credentials will be provided a conference call number to call in and participate in a post-game press conference with coaches and select student-athletes.
Pre-game and post-game handshakes may be replaced with fist bumps, forearm bumps, elbow bumps, or coaches may collectively agree upon a form of acknowledgement of both schools.