After all of the back and forth regarding COVID-19 and sports in Minnesota, only a couple of weeks of winter high school sports season remain.
Despite the season winding down, there are still plenty of games left on the schedule for high school girls and boys hockey, basketball, and wrestling.
This coming weekend, state tournaments for wrestling and gymnastics are scheduled with hockey and basketball to begin the following week.
This March is a complete turnaround from what took place one year ago when the COVID-19 pandemic forced high school sports to take a months-long pause.
"It's been an incredible amount of work for some many folks and it starts at our local schools. Administrators and coaches working with kids there, and families and students have put in a lot of time and had to deal with a lot of changes and adjustments to get to this points," said MSHSL Executive Director Erich Martens.
Martens says the focus all along was to give students the opportunity to compete, even if it meant making adjustments to curb the potential impacts of COVID-19.
Martens says rules around masking will stay, even for the state tournaments.
"Those have been required within hockey and basketball the entire season. While there are differing thoughts around that, our student-athletes and schools have managed and figured that out," he said. "We anticipate masks will be in place as we continue through the rest of the championship run."
One of the changes coming to the state hockey and basketball tournaments at Xcel Energy Center and Target Center will be in the crowd. April 1 marks the date when indoor seating capacity is allowed to expand under Governor Tim Walz's latest dial-back in COVID-related restrictions.
Seated indoor venues can add an additional 15-percent of their capacity over 500, with a limit of 3,000 people.
"That's going to be helpful for those who want to follow hockey and basketball," said Martens.
March 15 was the date where all venues could open at 50% capacity up to 250 people, which added some opportunities for section competitions.
"We are trying to get as near to that 250 number where we can," he said. "Opening from 25 to 50 percent means more of our smaller venues can get a few more folks in."
State girls and boys hockey tournaments run April 1-3 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul while girls and boys state basketball tournaments run April 6-10 at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.
