High School Football, Fall Season Being Pushed Back

Like most things, High school sports will have a different look in 2020.

The NJISAA announced today that there will be no fall sports in September, with the earliest start date being Oct. 2.

From the NJSIAA in a press release:

The official start of the fall sports season is being pushed back by approximately one month, with summer workouts for high school student-athletes – which may begin on July 13 – continuing until August 28. Following summer workouts (also known as the “summer recess period”), there will be a two-week hiatus from August 29 through September 13, during which only virtual meetings will be permitted, and only related to in-season (fall) sports.

Under the current plan – developed by the NJSIAA Sports Advisory Task Force, which is composed of athletic directors from across the state – official practices for all fall sports may commence on September 14. Competition will start September 28 for girls tennis and on October 1 for all other sports except football, which will kick off its season on October 2.

Regular seasons will conclude on October 23 for girl’s tennis, November 7 for football, and November 12 for all other fall sports. Limited postseason play will run from October 24 through October 31 for girls tennis, and November 13 through November 22 for all other sports. Schools that do not participate in the postseason may continue to play until November 22, with the exception being Thanksgiving football games. These are permissible after November 22, at each school’s discretion. No other fall sports competition will be allowed after November 22.

“High school sports are school-based, so we need to first ensure all is in order with the opening of our schools,” says Colleen Maguire, NJSIAA chief operating officer. “After that, we can begin playing sports. To be clear, our goal is to return to play – while making sure that health, safety, emotional well-being, and academics come first. We have a different model than some other types of programs that are far smaller in scale and operate independently. We have a duty to ensure that New Jersey’s schools and their more than 1.5 million students and teachers, including 283,000 high school student-athletes, can first return to school and their academics, and then participate in extracurricular activities like sports.”