Playoffs scheduled despite closures
The Florida High School Athletic Association announced Monday afternoon that its spring sports state championships remain on as schedule for now, despite a statewide closure of public schools until March 30.
The FHSAA statement, which was emailed to member schools and media outlets, included this passage:
“The FHSAA currently plans on maintaining the schedule as is, but will continue to work closely with host venues, local school districts, public health officials and our Board of Directors to help guide our decision-making process throughout the coming months. Decisions will be made in the best interest of coaches, administrators, fans and most importantly, student athletes.”
The plan differs with the Centers for Disease Control guidance issued Sunday night suggesting events involving groups of 50 or more people be canceled or postponed during the next eight weeks. President Donald Trump suggested Monday the number should be reduced to 10 or fewer people.
District tournaments and meets for the FHSAA spring sports are set to begin on the week of March 30 for water polo; April 7 for boys weightlifting, April 13 for lacrosse, tennis and track and field; April 20 for girls flag football; and April 27 for baseball, girls softball and boys volleyball.
“This is going to be tough for the athletes,” Winter Springs track and field coach Ocky Clark said last Friday as his team competed in a meet at Lake Brantley High School that was one of the last high school sports events held before the school closures. “It’s going to be tough for everyone.
“We’re just hoping we we can survive the storm and get to our conference and district meets and go on to region and state.”
The FHSAA stated that if postseason baseball and softball tournaments are played out, the association will maintain the new formula adopted for this school year that uses power ratings generated by MaxPreps to determine district tournament seeding and which at-large teams would join district champions in region play.
The association governs high school sports for all Florida public schools and most of the state’s private schools. But it has left individual schools and school districts to decide if they will permit teams to practice or play games while schools are not holding classes.
Public schools are closed until March 30 in five Orlando area counties: Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake and Volusia. No practices or games are permitted by those schools at this time.