The Florida High School Athletic Association board of directors met Friday to decide the future of sports in schools.
Option number one passed with an 11-5 vote, which means sports will begin Aug. 24.
This also approves an amendment added that would allow FHSAA member schools by or before Sep. 18 to opt out of the official FHSAA state series and approved sports season calendars. These schools would then work with FHSAA staff to design a regional calendar to permit play outside of the official school calendar.
Sports like football are considered a higher risk for students when it comes to contracting COVID-19 because it is a high-contact sport. Parents this year could be required to sign a waiver to have their child participate in any high school sport.
The public and many advisory groups have weighed in.
“I think that us all, the football families, people that love the sport in general, we just want to see some sports,” parent Prisca James said. “We want to see a little bit of something that resembles, you know, the norm. So I think we’re all gonna be really excited for this.”
“I’ve been waiting so long putting,” said Jaden Booker, a running back with Palmetto Ridge High School. I’ve been putting in all the work and effort, so I’m trying to prove myself.”
The options they voted on were as follows: The first; practice starting on August 24 with the first games kicking off the first week of September. The second; postpone practices until September and condensing the regular season to seven weeks or less, while foregoing state tournaments. The third option; push back all sports seasons. Fall sports would be delayed until November 30, and most sports would participate in a 5-6 week schedule.
You can watch the meeting HERE.