A student who chooses to avoid in-person school learning during the COVID-19 pandemic this autumn and opt to follow an online or e-Learning track at home is eligible to compete for a sports team under Indiana High School Athletic Association rules.

Paul Neidig, the new commissioner of the IHSAA, said in an interview last week such students are able to play for their local schools.

The key aspect is if the student has been enrolled in the school and is regarded as a student in good standing at the same school.

“According to our bylaws, they can still compete,” Neidig said.

School districts do have the power to put in place more restrictive rules than the IHSAA, though.

“The school always had the ability to go beyond,” he said.

High school sports were called off across the state last spring, but following detailed protocols drawn up by the IHSAA, 2020 fall sports teams were able to begin conditioning workouts and practice over the summer.

Girls golf started its season first this week. Seymour hosts an eight-team invitational event today at Shadowood Golf Course that Brownstown Central also is scheduled to participate in.

This will be the first interscholastic sporting event conducted in Seymour since March.

Volleyball, cross-country, soccer, football and tennis are practicing and scheduled to begin competition over the next several days or weeks.

Golf is considered a noncontact sport where social distancing between players and their coaches can be maintained and also is played in an outdoor setting.

Seymour competed in the Bloomington South Invitational on Monday at Bloomington Country Club, and coach Jim Hoffman said it was not hard for people to operate at least 6 feet apart, as is recommended.

“We didn’t even go in the clubhouse,” Hoffman said of the Owls.