The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association set down four options for the football schedule in the fall. The Board of Control will vote on how to proceed on July 8.
The adjustments to the schedule became necessary after Governor Bill Lee extended the State of Emergency order in Tennessee to August 29. Part of the order puts a hold on sports putting a limit on "contact sports with a requirement or substantial likelihood of routine close contact." This rule does not apply to college or professional sports.
The two sports impacted the most by this adjustment are girls soccer and football.
"Based on the extension of the Governor's order, football and girls' soccer cannot begin their seasons as originally scheduled," TSSAA executive director Bernard Childress said in a statement on Tuesday. The beginning of the season for these two sports start before the State of Emergency order ends.
In the Board of Control meeting on Wednesday morning, members discussed what steps need to be taken to ensure the regular season can continue for both girls soccer and football. For girls soccer, the main emphasis was on sliding the missed games in August to be played at the end of the regular season.
Childress said the TSSAA will continue to follow local health department guidelines on how to proceed with non-contact workouts with precautions and continue to communicate with schools. The TSSAA will have specific guidelines for each sport, including officials on the sport. However, Childress says they will not be able to test every student-athlete.
The TSSAA offered up four plans to board members for the high school football season. The plans will be sent out to member schools later on Wednesday. The plans are as follows:
1) 32-Team Bracket
-Contact practice will begin August 30
-The regular season will start on September 18
-Teams will play seven games in the regular season with the postseason starting on time
-Teams will disregard their current season schedule and the TSSAA will come up with a region schedule for teams to play.
-Teams that don't make the postseason will have the option to play two additional games to help fill out their schedule
2) 16-Team Bracket
-Contact practice will begin August 30
-The regular season will start on September 18
-Teams will play eight games in the regular season with the first week of the postseason canceled and replaced with the final regular season game
-Teams will disregard their current season schedule and the TSSAA will come up with a region schedule for teams to play
-Only the winner and runner-up of each region will make the postseason
-Teams that don't make the postseason will have the option to play two additional games to help fill out their schedule
3) 8-Team Bracket
-Contact practice will begin August 30
-The regular season will start on September 18
-Teams will play nine games in the regular season with the first and second week of the postseason canceled and replaced with the final two regular season games
-Schools will follow their season schedule, starting with Week 5. They will then work their way through their schedule, playing their Week 3 and Week 4 opponent as the final two games of the regular season
-The TSSAA will help to reschedule any region games that would have been played in the first two weeks of the regular season
-Only the region champion will make the postseason
-Teams that don't make the postseason will have the option to play one additional game to help fill out their schedule
4) No championships
-Contact practice will begin August 30
-The regular season will start on September 18
-No postseason will be played, instead each school will play 10 regular season games.
-TSSAA executive director Bernard Childress emphasized this was the least popular option in Wednesday morning's meeting
The TSSAA is also speaking with the Governor's office about the possibility of receiving an exemption to the state of emergency similar to college football and professional football.
Childress also added a few of the non-contact sports in the fall will continue on their normal sports schedule - cross country, golf and volleyball. They are not considered in the "high risk" category.
Once again, the Board of Control will vote on which plan to proceed with on July 8.
The Board also voted to table the discussion on classification and requested that the TSSAA tries to secure a location to hold a face-to-face meeting for the classification discussion.
As for the fans, Childress said that the TSSAA will not decide how many fans can attend games, if any at all. He said it is up to the school's to follow the Governor's order on fan attendance.