03/13/20- Spring Football Practice Eliminated for 2020 for High and Middle Schools

March 13, 2020 2019-2020 News Releases

This is being distributed to all KHSAA member schools through the Principal, Superintendent, Athletic Director, Designated Representative. This notice also applies to any middle school (any participants grade 5-8 competing in any way with students enrolled in grades 6-8) with a football team in Kentucky. Superintendents are asked to forward this information to all possible middle school representatives to ensure accurate communication.

Effective immediately, the allowances contained in Bylaw 23 for high schools as well as 702 KAR 7:065 for middle schools, that allow for spring football, are hereby eliminated for the 2020 spring period. At all levels, no protective equipment may be issued to players at any time and for any purpose prior to the last academic day of the school year.  This includes helmets, shoulder pads, any other player equipment, and all practice equipment such as dummies, pads and other drill gear.
In addition, there is also no allowance for team meetings, instruction, classroom work, or any other activity where any football-specific instruction is involved through at least Sunday, April 12, In the interim, future allowances for the remainder of the school year will be discussed and further updated to the membership and to middle schools.

Certainly, person to person contact sports, particularly with equipment of varying cleanliness and sanitization, cannot be allowed during this nationwide period of concern over COVID19 (coronavirus). To allow such efforts would be to act as oblivious to the current efforts to contain this virus.

This ban cannot simply be “temporary” for spring practice. To do so would create a tremendous potential competitive imbalance on future seasons due to the varying scheduled dates of spring practice, and potentially allow some schools to participate and some not to practice.

We wish you all safety, comfort, and health while we all work together on these concerns.