Georgia is delaying the start of high school football season during COVID-19 pandemic

High school football for Georgia High School Sports Association member schools will not start on time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The GHSA on Monday voted to postpone the start of the 2020 high school football season to early September, or two weeks later than originally planned. The decision was made during a Board of Trustees meeting and passed unanimously.

A motion to stay with the current GHSA calendar was voted down 8-4.

The GHSA plans to have a full 10 game regular season, and a full five week playoff schedule. Only games are delayed — mandatory practices begin July 27, moving to workouts in full pads Aug. 1.

The decision affects only football: All other fall sports will remain on schedule.

Spring sports in the state of Georgia were ultimately canceled last season due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Bibb County and Muscogee County both suspended spring sports on March 13 at the advisement of the GHSA. On April 2, the GHSA canceled the remaining spring sports seasons. The GHSA allowed schools to return on June 8 to begin conditioning for fall sports.

The move to push back the start of football season comes as cases of COVID-19 in the state of Georgia continue to rise. On Monday, the state reported over 146,000 cumulative cases of the virus and an increase of over 2,400 new cases in the last 24 hours.

Other states including Florida and California have already voted to move the start of fall sports back. In California, high school sports will not begin until January after the latest vote from the California Interscholastic Federation.

THIS STORY WILL BE UPDATED

This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Georgia is delaying the start of high school football season during COVID-19 pandemic."