KHSAA approves delayed start to high school football season

This is the big news that a lot of high schoolers and their parents have been waiting for, and it’s a positive update.

This fall, KHSAA is planning on hosting high school football games in the state of Kentucky, despite the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Typically, high school football seasons have 10 games in 11 weeks, with five rounds of playoffs to conclude the year. The KHSAA Board of Control voted Tuesday to start a 9-week season on September 11 with the playoff format remaining the same.

• Take a look at the calendar they provided:
• Aug. 24 — Helmet-only practices begin
• Sept. 11 — Regular-season play begins (nine-week regular season)
• Nov. 13 — First round of playoffs (keeping all five rounds)
• Dec. 11-12 — State finals at UK moved ahead one week

This is also great news for other fall sports. Volleyball, soccer, cross country, and field hockey will be be able to play at least 80% of their season by following this calendar laid out today during the meeting:

• Aug. 24 — Light practice (six hours per week)
• Aug. 31 — Full practice
• Sept. 7 — Full competition begins

Jefferson County Public Schools athletic director Jerry Wyman abstained from voting on all matters until the Board of Control meets again prior to the start of the season on August 20.

The Board of Control also moved to limit sporting events to meetings between teams from the state of Kentucky. The exceptions to this rule are out of state schools that reside in counties that border Kentucky. There will also be a cap on the number of players in uniform at each game to ensure social distancing: Cross Country 10; Field Hockey 24; Football 60; Soccer 24; and Volleyball 15.

While this is great, this doesn’t mean anything is final. We still have a lot of time between now and then to determine what’s going to happen. But, this is definitely a good step in the right direction for students that want to play organized sports this fall.