High school football season is still on—for now—but the Georgia High School Association on Thursday announced that pre-season scrimmages will be cancelled.
Competitions in cheerleading and one-act play that take place during the fall semester will be put on hold.
GHSA executive director Robin Hines made the announcement the day after officials with the state’s high school athletics governing body’s sports medicine committee met. That body discussed concerns from Dr. Kathleen Toomey, director of the Georgia Department of Public Health, over COVID-19 cases in the state.
Georgia’s case numbers rose sharply during the month of July, and vast community spread has prompted many school district’s, including Cobb County, to start the school year online-only.
In issuing his new guidance, Hines said football scrimmages are being called off due to high risk and physical contact. Practices that began in late July can still go on, but teams must follow GHSA guidelines to do so in a controlled environment.
Football teams typically have scrimmages a week or two before their seasons begin.
The GHSA pushed back the start of the season two weeks while keeping the regular schedules for other fall events.
The Corky Kell Classic also has changed venues for its slate of season-opening football games, moving the Kell-Walton game to Walton’s Raider Valley on Sept. 4.
According to SCORE Atlanta, GHSA has received more than 600 reports of players testing positive for COVID-19 since football workouts resumed in July.
The only known positive case involving an East Cobb team was someone with the Pope program in June, but it hasn’t been disclosed if it’s a player or a coach.
Some states have delayed their football seasons to the spring, including California. High school athletic directors in Florida are urging football season to be postponed.
The GHSA has issued lengthy guidance for other fall sports. In volleyball, an indoor sport, teams may not use locker rooms, the home team must provide hand sanitizers for both teams and officials, and the visiting team must arrive already in uniform.
Face coverings are recommended but not required, and social distancing guidelines will be followed for team bench areas. Players cannot lick fingers, touch their mouths or blow into their hands while on the court.
Spectator areas also must include social-distancing measures, and the home team must regularly sanitize balls, the playing court, netting, the scorers table and referee stand.
Similar guidelines have been issued for cross country, an outdoor sport.
Hines said the indoor venues for cheerleading and one-act play do not allow for social distancing, and those were potentially high-risk activities mentioned by Toomey.
Instead, cheerleading competitions would begin in late November and conclude in February, and one-act play events are tentatively being delayed until the spring.
Toomey also was concerned about chorus and orchestra activities that are also indoors. GHSA does not oversee those events.
Last month, the directors of marching band programs at the 16 high schools in the Cobb County School District said they would not have fall competitions, following guidance from the Georgia Music Educators Association.
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- Pope football workouts resume after COVID case
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- East Cobb News COVID-19 Resource Page
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