FHSAA postpones school practices
Delay across the entire state until Aug. 24 comes after second vote is taken
After voting Monday to allow school districts to begin fall practice a week later, the Florida High School Athletic Association voted Thursday to delay the start of fall sports practice due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The measure, proposed by Citrus County School Board member Doug Dodd, delays the start of the fall sports schedule until Aug. 24.
The measure
11-4.
“After passed following the meeting on Monday, we were incredibly disappointed and just in total disbelief,” said Shawn Cerra, the Broward County director of athletics and student activities. “I’m just incredibly proud of Broward’s leadership in making this decision to do what we need to do despite the decision on Monday.
“I’m glad they got some pushback and saw that they needed to revisit this, not only for South Florida but for the state as a whole. I’m hopeful they’ll do what they need to do to protect all of the children [in] this state and the coaches and the adults.”
The measure allows teams to continue summer conditioning, if it has been allowed by their districts, through Aug. 24. The measure directs FHSAA executive director George Tomyn to coordinate with the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee and other advisory committees to work on a fall sports plan. The measure calls for the FHSAA Board of Directors to meet again sometime between Aug. 10 and Aug. 17 to discuss how to move forward.
“I hope everyone is safe,” Miami Riviera Preparatory School co-athletic director and board member Mark Schusterman said. “I think we’ve done some things to ensure the safety of not only kids, but coaches, officials, teachers and parents.
“I think that’s a great step that we took today.”
The board’s vote last Monday to allow fall
practice to begin the following Monday was met with criticism from across the state.
The board did not vote on any of the recommendations presented by the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, which included delaying the start of the season, requiring coronavirus screenings, and having student-athletes and their guardian sign a coronavirus waiver before playing.
Despite the Monday vote, many districts delayed the start of fall practices until August or September.
Broward County had postponed the start of fall practice indefinitely. Palm Beach County had not announced a start date.
“Everybody wants the chance to coach, everybody wants to do what’s right,” Coral Glades coach Cameron Thomas said Wednesday. “But we want to do it the right way,
“We don’t want to regress to, ‘Oh, y’all can’t play no more.’ If the NFL and NCAA are having problems, who does the state think they are by saying, ‘Oh we can go ahead and practice?’ People that are making millions are having problems with this.
“Us as coaches right now, we’re not even getting paid enough to go out and support our families for a game that we love. And you want us to go out there in the middle of a pandemic and really risk our lives? No, that’s not fair.”