Due to continuing concerns about COVID-19, there will be no spring sports season for the state’s prep athletes, the Wyoming High School Activities Association announced Tuesday afternoon.

“This was not an easy decision to make,” WHSAA Commissioner Ron Laird said in a note to activities directors around the state. “However, ... not only is it difficult to predict when it will be safe to return, there are no assurances any of our communities would be allowed to host our events.”

Laird called it “a sad day” for the organization. In a statement, WHSAA’s board members said they made the decision to cancel the spring season “with deep regret” — and that they understand “the overwhelming disappointment this decision is for our student athletes, especially our seniors.”

“As we all continue to adapt to the pandemic, academics need to be the focus of our students and schools to be able to complete a successful school year,” the board said in a news release. “Please realize that our highest priority, as always, is ensuring the health and safety of our students, schools and communities during this challenging time.”

Powell High School Activities Director Scott McKenzie said the news was an “absolute bummer” for student-athletes.

“My heart just breaks for these seniors and these kids that they can’t compete — and those teams that had some dreams and could make some noise at the end of May for a trophy,” McKenzie said. “And it’s just not going to happen this year.”

Tuesday’s cancellation of the spring sports season represents the culmination of a chain of events that began on March 12, when Natrona County health officials abruptly called off the Class 3A and 4A state basketball tournaments. That decision immediately followed Wyoming’s first confirmed case of the new coronavirus — and as major sports organizations began shutting down due to rising concerns about the spread of the disease across the country.

The WHSAA initially delayed the start of the spring sports season, most recently saying that practices could not resume until April 20. Last week, McKenzie had still held out hope for “a skosh of a season,” saying that it remained possible to squeeze in some games in May.

However, those hopes dimmed on Friday, when Gov. Mark Gordon announced that school buildings around the state would need to remain closed to students and gatherings or more than 10 people prohibited through at least April 30. Further, state health officials indicated that the new disease might not peak in Wyoming until early May. The decision to call off the spring sports season followed this week.

“As you just watch experts talk about this, you know that as long as it took that curve [of new confirmed cases] to get to the apex, it takes that long to get back down; you just kind of watch those dates [of restrictions] continue to be extended,” McKenzie said. “And it’s for the safety of all.”

While there will be no high school soccer, track, golf or tennis seasons this spring, Laird said the WHSAA will be able to hold the state speech, FBLA and FCCLA competitions online.

“I believe each [of these] organizations has done a nice job of working together and students will have an opportunity to have something positive to end their school year,” he said.

Laird added that, “we are confident we will continue to pull together as a state and be ready to go with a new perspective come the start of the 2020-21 school year.”