FHSAA reverses earlier decision, says it will delay start of fall sports

The statewide start of fall sports was pushed back four weeks, from Monday to Aug. 24, following an 11-4 vote by the Florida High School Athletic Association’s board of directors Thursday night.

The decision was an about-face for a board that voted 10-5 on Monday to protect the FHSAA’s original calendar until it met again. It is a late-breaking curveball for schools such as Foundation Academy of Winter Garden, which had scheduled practices for football and other fall sports next week.

But the new date falls more in line with decisions to delay the start of sports already made by most of the state’s large districts, including all Orlando area public schools. The new decree, conceived on the fly by Citrus County school board member Doug Dodd, instructs FHSAA executive director George Tomyn and his staff to confer with the association’s advisory committees and bring a comprehensive plan back to the board for an in-person meeting that will be held between Aug. 10 and 17.

“I have faith in Mr. Tomyn and his staff that we can have a much better picture on how to go forward,” Dodd said. “We’ll have another three weeks of data that we’ll be able to see.”

Teams will be

allowed

to continue to hold limited summer conditioning workouts.

“I think we could get a better plan if we hit the pause button for a week or two,” said Jacob Oliva, who represents the state Department of Education on the board. “I’ve always been one to support local decisions. But it’s definitely evident that many districts, even if they were eligible to start practice, they’re not quite ready to do so.”