After earlier in the week saying that they would carry on with the fall season of high school athletics in Florida as scheduled, the FHSAA held an emergency meeting on Thursday where they abruptly changed that plan.
After pressure from many parts of the state, including notably Miami-Dade County, which threatened to consider leaving the FHSAA altogether, the organization that governs most high school sports in the state voted Thursday in favor of postponing the start of all fall sports, including swimming & diving, until at least August 24.
Watch video of the meeting here:
On Monday, after a marathon meeting, the FHSAA Board of Directors voted 10-5 in favor of staying on-schedule for a July 27 start for fall high school sports. That vote came in opposition to the recommendation of the FHSAA’s own Sports Medicine Advisory Committee.
The new vote, in favor of delaying sports by almost a month, came with an 11-3 vote in favor. The votes against the August 24 date were Bobby Johns, the athletic director at Wewahitchka High School in Gulf County; Richard Finlayson, the principal at Aucilla Christian Academy in Jefferson County; and Randy McDaniel, of the Village Charter Schools.
The FHSAA says that it will hold an in-person follow-up meeting by August 17 to decide if the August 24 date remains feasible or if there needs to be another change in plans.
The delay in starting the fall season means that schools cannot hold tryouts or practices until at least August 24, but that they can continue with general conditioning workouts.
Many schools have already withdrawn from the fall season of high school sports. That includes Pine Crest School in South Florida, who are the defending 2A State Champions in both boys’ and girls’ swimming & diving.
The state of Florida has seen a dramatic rise in new coronavirus cases since early June. Cases have receded slightly from the peak of about 15,300 new cases on July 12. Over the last week, the state has averaged about 10,585 new cases of coronavirus per day. The death toll continues to rise, however: Thursday’s official toll of 173 deaths is a new high for the state, and lifts the 7-day average to 120-per-day.
I think it’s a smart move. Give the FL high schools and the state for that matter another month to get situated and determine if it’s safe to send kids back to school/training/competition. There were recently 1500 physicians that signed a petition encouraging elementary and middle school age kids to go back to school, but stopped short at high school aged kids.
https://www.jobcreatorsnetwork.com/press_releases/over-1500-physicians-sign-petition-supporting-the-reopening-of-schools/
Fear says what if…………………….
I believe halting sports was their intention however allowing Florida to remain in their “summer rules” until another decision basically allows anyone to do whatever they want in terms of training if I’m not mistaken. I wonder which schools will take advantage of the discrepancy.
You know this is getting real when Florida starts to do something sensible
Deniers finally waking up. Trump canceling Jacksonville yesterday gives them “permission” to act sensibly. Prediction: There will be additional delays on Fall and ultimately cancellations or move to Spring. Almost certain unless Florida starts closing down bars again and whole state requires masks in public.
Bars have been shut down for a while now. And virtually every even somewhat-“densely” populated areas have had mask mandates for over a month now.