Georgia high school football season delayed until early September

High school football teams planning to kick off their 2020 seasons in late August will have to wait until early September.

The Georgia High School Association’s board of trustees voted Monday to delay the start of the season by two weeks, to Sept. 4, due to precautions and safety measures related to COVID-19.

The standard 10-game regular season for teams will be maintained, along with the same five-week playoff format. Teams can begin their preseason conditioning workouts on July 27.

The trustees also ruled that seasons in volleyball, cross country and flag football, the other sports GHSA sponsors, can start on schedule.

Preseason practices in those sports and football can begin on Aug. 1.

The GHSA action gives also local school districts the authority to cancel sports seasons. According to the meeting minutes, there was discussion that Atlanta Public Schools might have called off all sports if there hadn’t been a delay.

A Walton High School parent, Amy Henry, addressed the trustees “about the importance of sports to kids in high school and how the benefits of playing sports outweighed the risks associated with Covid 19,” according to the minutes.

An initial vote not to delay the start of football season failed and another vote for a two-week delay was unanimous.

In announcing an online-only start to the school year, Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said last week that most extracurricular activities are being cancelled. But varsity athletics are continuing, and that he would be following guidance from the GHSA.

The football season was to have started on the weekend of Aug. 21. Instead, here’s how the opening weekend will look like for East Cobb teams: