After weeks of guessing, wondering and even hoping, the GHSA's Board of Trustees confirmed a path for the state's football programs Monday.
The governing body of more than 400 high schools says a 10-game football season will be played but pushed back two weeks to Sept. 4. The season also will include a full five weeks of playoffs that will culminate with the finals at Georgia State University the Monday after Christmas (Dec. 28).
GHSA Executive Director Dr. Robin Hines said Monday's vote was a positive step.
"It is a positive move and I'm cautiously optimistic about things right now," he said. "But it's also still a fluid situation, and we are constantly monitoring things as we move forward."
AccessWDUN caught up with Forsyth County Athletics Director Nathan Turner, who is on the GHSA BOT, to discuss what happened inside the meeting on Monday.
He says the main reason for the delay was the lack of acclimation time for the student-athletes.
"As much as we want to talk about COVID, we are preparing for football season," Turner said. "But the acclimation of the football player has been the most important conversation and it all led around acclimation and how we go about that. So, we felt like the conditioning aspect along with programs that have been cut and shut down for 14 days due to COVID, that it would be in the best interest of the student-athletes to push back the season two weeks."
With the unanimous plan, the GHSA says teams across the state will be allowed to play their entire schedules as put together but beginning on Sept. 4 instead of Aug. 21. According to Turner, teams will be allowed two scrimmages beginning on Aug. 21.
By pushing the season two weeks, the first round of the playoffs would start the Friday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 27), normally the third round, and last through Christmas with the state title games set for Monday, Dec. 28.
AccessWDUN's Jeff Hart contributed to this story.
To listen to the full interview, click play above.
