Federal Shutdown Impacting Fort Campbell Sports With Games, Seasons In Flux

With the U.S. government in a shutdown after Congress failed to agree on a spending plan to extend funding, military and civilian personnel at Fort Campbell are affected. While essential services on the installation will continue, thousands of personnel are now working without pay. 

The shutdown also impacts Fort Campbell High School as well as Fort Knox. The DoDEA said earlier this week that schools will remain open for normal operations, except for sports. That means no practices or extracurricular activities, or games. It also treats the situation like the KHSAA dead period each summer, in which student-athletes can’t use school facilities

There would be five sports at Fort Campbell immediately impacted by the shutdown, with school officials taking the sports schedule on a day-by-day basis.

Fort Campbell is scheduled to host its football homecoming this Friday against Trigg County. That game has serious implications on the Class 2A District 1 race, with the loser likely on the outside looking in for the postseason. No decision has been made as of Wednesday afternoon on the game’s status.

There also isn’t a viable option for rescheduling a lost football game.

Trigg County has a bye week set for Oct. 10, which falls during fall break. Fort Campbell has a game scheduled that week against Memphis White Station, Tennessee, although that date is likely off the table.

Fort Campbell’s bye week is the final week of the regular season; however, the KHSAA’s scheduling grid prohibits district games played in the week before the postseason.

The soccer teams have a more immediate concern with the 8th District Tournament scheduled for next week. The girls are scheduled to play on Monday, while the boys are set to play on Tuesday. With the region schedule already set, it’s not likely those semifinal matches will be pushed back to accommodate the federal shutdown should it run into next week.

The Falcons’ boys soccer team is scheduled to play at Webster County on Thursday, with that game in flux.

Fort Campbell’s girls soccer team ended its regular season on Tuesday with a 6-3 loss to Caldwell County.

Fort Campbell’s volleyball team has a little more time before its postseason begins. The Lady Falcons are 11-2 and are having their best season in 15 years. They have a Thursday game scheduled with Kenwood and a game next Tuesday with Hopkinsville.

The volleyball postseason doesn’t begin until October 20, which could be enough time for Congress to pass a spending plan.

Fort Campbell’s golf team has already concluded its season, while the cross country team has its region meet scheduled for October 25. The shutdown could affect their schedule leading up to the region meet.

The government shutdown will not impact the playing of college sports games at Air Force, Army, and Navy.

There was a similar concern two years ago, but a government shutdown was averted just hours before the actual shutdown after a 45-day funding bill was passed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The last federal shutdown was in January 2019 and lasted 35 days.