The sounds of high school football will be heard across Ohio Saturday marking the first day of Fall high school football camps. On Friday, the Ohio High School Athletic Association reaffirmed its position that August 1 would be the first day of practice for all Fall sports even though the governor’s office and Department of Health hasn’t given its official approval for scrimmages and games.
“It is important to keep athletic activity moving forward,” said Dan Leffingwell, president of the OHSAA Board of Directors and superintendent of the Noble Local Schools in Sarahsville. “And with that, we believe our member schools provide our student-athletes with the safest possible environment to return to play and that our school programs are the best avenue to help students learn lifelong lessons and provide social, emotional and physical benefits that other programs cannot. Moving forward allows those students to continue to be engaged with their school coaches and teammates. Membership data also supports this decision.”
Earlier this week, the OHSAA suspended football scrimmages between schools.
Below is from the OHSAA website:
• Official practices will begin on Saturday, Aug. 1, with the normal acclimatization period in place.
• No school vs. school scrimmages are permitted.
• School vs. school contests will follow per their normal OHSAA permissible dates and regulations with a target date of the week of Monday, Aug. 24 (Note: This date is subject to change and subject to the approval from the Governor’s Office/Ohio Department of Health and with the stipulation that COVID-19 testing will not be required).
“If we were to delay, our students will find opportunities to compete in sports through non-school programs that may not be focused on safety and are not education-based,” Leffingwell said. “Should data on COVID-19 change and/or the Governor’s Office makes changes to our plan, we have flexibility that would allow us to look at implementing other models for our seasons.”
