The first day of school typically consists of the hustle of getting new school supplies and figuring out a new schedule. For fall athletes, it also usually consists of the stress of tryouts, but this year that is not the case. This year, tryouts are the week after school starts on Monday Aug. 19, rather than the first day of school.

To figure out what causes this change one must understand the Kansas High School Activities Association (KSHAA) standardized calendar. The standardized calendar centers everything around the date that Thanksgiving falls on for that year. Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in the month of November. Since that’s not very stationary, KSHAA uses the standardized calendar to ensure that semester lengths stay the same annually.  Therefore, fall sports also have a certain amount of weeks they can use to participate in activities. Fall sports start on what is called standardized week number 14.

This year, Thanksgiving falls on the latest date it possibly could—November 28. So, that has caused the date of tryouts to be pushed back as well to August 19. Although changing the date for sports may seem like a small difference, but students felt their nerves build up for the later date.

“Personally, it made me more nervous because I just wanted to get them over with,” Junior volleyball player Molly Menefee said. “But at the same time it gave me more time to practice before they came around.”

Thanksgiving isn’t typically as late as it is this year, so that really affects the timing for the school year. Like fall sports, having a late Thanksgiving also changes the day that winter and spring sports normally start.

“It’s unusual that school starts before athletics do,” District athletic and activities director Richard Bechard said. “It maybe happens once every six years.”

To view the Kansas High School Activities Association standardized calendar, visit http://www.kshsaa.org/.