Palm Beach County has a workout plan
Palm Beach County fall sports teams will be permitted to start workouts on Monday.
The Palm Beach County School District is moving forward with a plan that allows conditioning to start Monday and the football season to potentially begin on Oct. 30, district spokeswoman Julie Houston Trieste told the Sun Sentinel. ESPN West Palm was the first to report the news.
Under the proposed plan, teams would be allowed to move to in indoor weight rooms on Oct. 5, begin noncontact practices on Oct. 12, start contact practices on Oct. 17 and begin their seasons on Oct. 30.
Houston Trieste said the dates in the plan are the “desired” dates, but the district will finalize those dates in the future.
The plan calls for the district to opt out of the FHSAA state series, making county teams ineligible for state championships, but a final determination has not been made. The deadline to opt in or out is Friday.
The FHSAA state series playoffs for football begin on Nov. 6, one week after Palm Beach County School District teams would begin their season.
Under this plan, the football season would last from Oct. 30 until Dec. 19. Regulargames would be played at three sites with turf fields: Boca Raton High, Jupiter High and Wellington High. This
proved controversial during a Palm Beach County School Board workshop meeting on Sept. 9, when Board member Dr. Debra Robinson brought up that all three sites were in areas considered more affluent.
One game would be played on Friday night at 6 p.m. Three games would be played on Saturdays, with games starting at 10 a.m., 2
p.m. and6p.m.
The season would last seven weeks, including one bye week. Teams would play six regular-season games, primarily against other Palm Beach County opponents. Week 7 would be a week for bowl games against teams from Broward, Miami-Dade or Palm Beach. Junior varsity and freshman football
teams would delay their seasons until the winter.
Only a limited number of people would be allowed to attend games. Each participant would be given two tickets, and two pre-approved parents or guests would have to purchase their tickets in advance online. Any attendees would have their temperature taken.
Therewould be a consideration to expand ticket sales after theThanksgiving break.
Practices would be regimented in order to prevent the risk of COVID-19 spreading. Players and coaches would need to bring their own water bottles, face coverings and towels. Parents, guardians and other spectators would not be allowed to attend workouts or practices. All participantswouldhave towash or sanitize their hands before and after workouts, and coacheswould have to sanitize equipment.
Workouts would be limited to “pods” of players and a coach that include up to10 people total. Each pod must remain together for each workout. When workouts move into the weight room on Oct. 5, pods can be expanded to 20 people.
If the first three phases are conducted successfully, football teams can begin non-contact practices on Oct. 17 and contact practices five days later.
Other sanctioned fall sports are: girls volleyball, swimming and diving, bowling, cross country and golf.
Thosesportswould beon similar timelines. Cross country and golf would begin on Oct. 5, bowling and swimming and diving would begin on Oct. 13 and girls volleyball season would begin onOct. 26.
Broward County Athletic Association teams will also begin conditioning onMonday.