OCPS announces start dates, changes for fall sports

After months of waiting, coaches, athletes and administrators around Orange County finally received word from Orange County Public Schools about the start of the fall sports season.

In its meeting Tuesday, Aug. 25, the OCPS School Board announced that county schools would be allowed to begin preseason practices Monday, Aug. 31, after being delayed for an extended period of time due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

With the need to get student-athletes into game shape, the regular seasons for fall sports will begin two weeks following the start of preseason practices. The season openers for football will take place either Thursday, Sept. 17, or Friday, Sept. 18 — with the Jewish Rosh Hashanah holiday occurring on Friday, schools may opt for that Thursday.

The schedules themselves for each sport will look much different than previous years as well. While football will go down from 10 to eight regular season games before the playoffs, which begin Friday, Nov. 13, the bowling and cross country season will have six regular season weeks. Meanwhile swimming and diving will have five weeks of play before district meets, and the volleyball and golf seasons will only last for four regular season weeks before the state playoffs.

While athletes adapt to the changes, fans and parents will have their own adjusting to do.

Before students are even allowed to participate, parents must sign the “Annual Sports Activity Participation” packet which includes the new “Assumption of the Risk and Liability Relating to Coronavirus / COVID-19,” which states that parents “voluntarily assume all risks that I and/or my child(ren) may be exposed to or infected by COVID-19 as a result of participation in the Activity, and that such exposure or infection may result in personal injury, illness, sickness, and/or death.”

As far as game attendance goes, though there will be no charge for tickets for the fall 2020 regular season — a blow for many schools that rely on revenue from sports to help fund programs — only two tickets will be given to each athlete, which will limit guest attendance at games. In addition, hosting school faculty may attend games, but without guests.

With this limit in place, marching bands members, cheer teams, dance teams, JROTC members and majorettes will not be allowed to participate in the sports season. Cheer teams will be allowed to start practices Monday, Aug. 31, and are allowed to practice, but won’t be able to participate at games. 

Despite these measure that are now in place, Orange County Superintendent Dr. Barbara Jenkins said that nothing is guaranteed, and if positive cases of COVID-19 begin to pop up things could change quickly.

The following are the measures being taken by OCPS for each fall sport:
 

BOWLING

— Two weeks of tryouts and practice

— Matches begin Sept. 14

— Six week regular season concluding Oct. 24

— Schools eliminated from the postseason can add more matches until Nov. 5

— Maximum of 10 boys and 10 girls participating per match

— Only five of the participants and the head coach should be on the bowling surface in the circle, rather than the entire team

— Social distancing decals will be used to remind spectates and competitors to remain 6-feet apart.
 

CROSS COUNTRY

— Two weeks of tryouts and practice

— Matches begin Sept. 14

— Schools will have a six week regular season concluding on Oct. 24

— Schools will participate locally during this regular season

— Schools eliminated from the postseason can add more meets until Nov. 14

— Meets will use staggered start times and interval starts

— Widening the course to six-feet at it’s narrowest point

— Use of a fully automatic timing system for larger meets, so it’s easier to distance those at the finish line
 

FOOTBALL

— Three weeks of tryouts and practice

— Games begin Sept. 17

— Schools will play until Nov. 6, allowing for eight regular season games

— Schools can elect to take part in FHSAA State Series; all teams qualify for playoffs on Nov. 13

— Team boxes will be extended to the 10-yard line

— Balls will be constantly changed in and out of the game

— Locker rooms will not be used at halftime, instead both teams will move to opposite end zones

— Concession stands will include only bottled drinks
 

GOLF

— Two weeks of tryouts and practice

— Matches begin Sept. 14

— Schools will have a four week regular season concluding on Oct. 10

— Schools will participate locally during this regular season

— Schools eliminated from the postseason can add more matches until Nov. 4

— Masks will be worn by all golfers

— Score cards will be replaced by golfers using the FHSAA golf app, which eliminates the need of sharing cards

— Players will only handle their own clubs and gear, and not share with teammates
 

SWIMMING & DIVING

— Two weeks of tryouts and practice

— Meets begin September 14, 2020

— Schools will have a five week regular season concluding on Oct. 17

— Schools will participate locally during this regular season

— Schools eliminated from the postseason can add more meets until Nov. 7

— Maximum of 50 participants on the pool deck

— Multiple warmup periods will be utilized to limit number of swimmers per lane, as well as restrict the number of lanes used during a competition

— Teams will not share their own equipment, and will use their own water bottles
 

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

— Two weeks of tryouts and practice

— Matches begin Sept. 14

— Schools will have a four week regular season concluding on Oct. 10

— Schools will participate locally during this regular season

— Schools eliminated from the postseason can add more games until Nov. 14

— Schools can play a maximum of 25 regular season games

— Ball will be constantly changed during matches

— Teams will no longer switch benches in-between sets

— Players will maintain social distancing of three to six-feet on the benches

— Concession stands will include only bottled drinks