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In regards to starting fall sports next week–nevermind. After another grueling meeting, the FHSAA voted to push the start of fall sports back until at least Aug. 24. The board of directors voted in favor of the move 11 to 4.
This decision comes days after the FHSAA voted to start on time. This postponement means that schools cannot hold tryouts or practices until at least Aug. 24. However, they can still do conditioning.
There will be another meeting on the matter no later than Aug. 17. At that meeting, they will assess the coronavirus situation in the State of Florida.
Few Want to Get Started
This move better reflects the moves being made by school districts across Florida.
According to WESH 2 in Orlando, many central Florida schools planned to postpone fall sports despite Monday’s decision. Tampa Bay Schools are making the same consideration.
Pasco County athletic director Matt Wicks said the plan still is to stick with the Sept. 7 starting date for practices and to continue with the seven county coalition.
— Bob Putnam (@Biggamebobby) July 24, 2020
The Sun-Sentinel reported that Broward County postponed the start of fall sports indefinitely.
During the meeting, FHSAA Board Chair Lauren Otero read statistics from data she gathered that helped make the decision.
Otero said, “of our 67 public school district counties, 47 of them provided a response. Of the 47 counties that responded, they represented 396 public schools that are members of the FHSAA. Of the 396 public schools, 359 are not starting on July 27. 37 schools out of 396 are ready to go.”
With less than 10 percent of schools that responded ready to start, it is not going to work. Alison Posey of ABC27 in Tallahassee put a poll on twitter to see what the public thought of the decision. A plurality of voters felt the postponement was the right decision.
Do you think the FHSAA Board of Directors made the right decision tonight to move the start of high school fall sports to at least 8/24?
— Alison Posey (@AlisonPosey14) July 24, 2020
For now, students will head back to class in the fall with no sports. In a time where people are debating if even going to class is safe to do, maybe it makes sense to stop and consider if playing football is the right decision as well.
