Marquette’s Joe DeMattia skates with the puck against Calumet on Feb. 11 at Lakeview Arena in Marquette. (Journal file photo)

LANSING — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declined to set a date for the return of youth contact sports, despite growing pressure after her administration extended the ban through Feb. 21, three months after it began.

It was part of a news conference where she also refused to discuss the circumstances surrounding the abrupt departure of Michigan’s health director, Robert Gordon, during the coronavirus pandemic, including whether she asked for his resignation.

Gordon, who issued COVID-19 restrictions after Whitmer’s powers were upended by an October court ruling, resigned Friday as director of the state Department of Health and Human Services after two years on the job. The governor named Elizabeth Hertel to succeed him.

The state has announced that restaurants and bars can resume dine-in service, starting Feb. 1, after a significant drop in virus cases and hospitalizations.

But youth contact sports, including winter high school seasons in basketball, hockey, wrestling and competitive cheer, remain off-limits.

Whitmer, who has strongly recommended that schools offer in-person instruction by March 1, pointed to the emergence of a more contagious virus variant in Washtenaw and Wayne counties as cause for concern.

“I understand the concern that parents and athletes have and their desire to re-engage…. Our job is to try to curtail the spread of this new variant” she said. “We’ve got to not let our guard down…. It’s important that we stay very focused on where the numbers are before we take additional steps.”

Michigan High School Athletic Association executive director Mark Uyl issued a statement Monday about the most recent delay in starting most winter sports.

“We are unable to provide specific plans yet as we are still evaluating the best options for delivering a memorable experience for 60,000 athletes involved in winter contact sports,” the statement read. “We will continue asking questions and advocating for all of our schools and athletes as we work toward building our next plans for seasons in basketball, competitive cheer, ice hockey and wrestling. We will be ready with specific timelines as soon as MDHHS clears contact sports to begin full activity.

“We have said from the start of the 2020-21 school year that we would do everything possible to have three seasons (fall, winter and spring), and play all three to completion. Our strong advocacy for all sports and seasons — and especially winter sports — continues every day.”

Over the weekend, the MHSAA concluded its 11-player football finals, Uyl added, wrapping up a month where the suspended fall sports completed their state tournaments.

Also Monday, a law and lobbying firm representing a group of student-athletes, parents, coaches and school administrators wrote to Hertel urging her to issue an order letting contact sports begin no later than Feb. 21. The letter says 99.8% of tests given to athletes, coaches and staff recently were negative.

The testing of about 5,300 people was conducted in a pilot program to finish the state football, volleyball and Lower Peninsula girls swimming and diving tournaments. Forty-seven states have given a start date for competition for all sports, according to the letter.

The group said the lack of team sports hurts students’ education, adding that athletes are no longer being recruited by colleges and those with means can travel to neighboring states to compete.

Separately, Detroit school district superintendent Nikolai Vitti wrote a letter encouraging Whitmer to allow winter contact sports and to give clarity about why the season has been suspended and what needs to happen for it to start.

“As I believe you know, the opposition, despair and anger to the continuing suspension of winter ‘contact’ sports is rapidly growing in the city and across the state,” Vitti wrote. “Please do not let this frustration reach the level of a lawsuit against you and state.”

Lynn Sutfin, spokeswoman for the state health department, said sports that require closeness between players make it more difficult to prevent disease transmission even with masks and other mitigation measures in place.

“These risks are even greater for indoor contact sports where there is not natural ventilation to mitigate the close proximity of participants,” she said, adding that teams may be able to decrease risk with robust public health measures “but risk remains elevated.”

Some information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.