Florida’s plan to start 2020 high school football on-time is falling apart one school district at a time

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On Monday, the Florida High School Athletic Association Board of Directors approved a plan to start Fall high school football camps on-time on Monday, July 27. Now, two days later, individual school districts across the state are making their own decisions about the FHSAA decision with many of them creating their own Fall sports schedules.

One district, the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system, has gone as far as to say it is looking at withdrawing from the FHSAA. Below is a statement from Miami-Dade County Public Schools School Board Vice-Chair  Dr. Steve Gallon III that is part of an news release:

Recently, at an emergency meeting held on Monday, July 20, 2020, the FHSAA voted to retain its fall sports start date of July 27, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. This will impact six fall sports: football, volleyball, bowling, cross country, golf, and swimming. The decision, which passed on a 10-4 vote, took place despite a recommendation from its own FHSAA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee which urged the association to push back the start dates for football and volleyball. The decision will have an inequitably adverse impact on South Florida school districts such as Miami-Dade which have realized a continued spike in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Presently, Miami-Dade County leads Florida in such confirmed cases.

The decision will also impact the District’s participation in postseason playoffs and championship series as student athletes will not be able to prepare, practice, and compete for the same length of time as school districts that are not similarly impacted by the pandemic.

“This is an issue of equity, fairness, health, and safety” Dr. Gallon stated. “Despite the fact that schools in our area constitute a significant, major revenue source for the FHSAA, as well as a high number of playoff and state championship teams in various sports, a 10-4 vote confirms what they think of our districts, schools, and most important, the health and safety, and fair and equitable participation of our students. The FHSAA has clearly sent a message to school districts in South Florida and several others around the state,” Gallon continued. “They did not even listen to the recommendations of their own Sports Medicine Advisory Committee.”

“We have heard the FHSAA loud and clear. They now need to hear from us.”

Dr. Steve Gallon III from news release

Monday’s FHSAA Meeting

Our friends at FloridaHSFootall.com are doing a great job of keeping everyone up-to-date. Below you can see other districts that are making their own decisions.

FloridaHSFootball.com is reporting that the FHSAA will meet again Thursday night to review the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee’s recommendation to delay the start of the high school football season.

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About the Author

Jeff Fisher
Jeff is an award-winning journalist and expert in the field of high school sports, underscored with his appearance on CNBC in 2010 to talk about the big business of high school football in America.Jeff turned to his passion for high school football into an entrepreneurial venture called High School Football America, a digital media company focused on producing original high school sports content for radio, television and the internet.Jeff is co-founder and editor-in-chief of High School Football America, a partner with NFL Play Football.