High School Sports In Dallas County Put On Hold After New Order From Health Officials
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Dallas County's decision to not allow schools to reopen for in-person classes before Sept. 8 has a big effect on high school sports.
According to the order, all school-sponsored events and activities such as sports and competitions cannot take place until after in-person instruction begins.
High school football players and coaches had been hoping all summer that there would be season during the 2020-2021 school year. That hope still remains, but, if there is a season, it would have a much-delayed start.
High schools started summer strength and conditioning programs over a month ago with strict guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some were interrupted due to positive tests for the virus.
Workouts did resume earlier this week, with the UIL approving offense-versus-defense competitive drills. But Thursday's order will now suspend those workouts for school districts in Dallas County.
If workouts and practices are unable to resume until after Sept. 8, it's likely the first high school football games would not be played until at least late September or early October.
"My heart goes out to all our football players, our football team. We've been working hard right now, getting ready for the start of the season. I understand where it's coming from. I understand that the best thing for us is to try to keep our kids safe," DeSoto head football coach Claude Mathis said.
"I'm all for safety. I'm all for health of the kids. I totally understand that. But this is so important to some of these kids. It's their senior year and it breaks my heart for them, that I can't help them, to fix this for them. It's heartbreaking to me. It's hard to sleep at night that you can't fix this for your kids," Parish Episcopal head football coach Daniel Novakov said.
High school football and volleyball preseason workouts were scheduled to begin Aug. 3 in Texas, with the first football games to be played on Aug. 28. However, the target date to even begin practice is now Sept. 8.