AUSTIN, Texas – Texas will delay the start of the public high school soccer season for its largest schools by a month as the state grapples with a recent surge in new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.
Instead of starting practice on August 3, those schools can now start on September 7. The first games can be played on September 24, one month after the originally scheduled opening weekend.
The University Interscholastic League said it focused the delay on the largest schools, since many of them are located in the state’s largest metropolitan areas, which have been most affected by the increase in virus cases.
Some school districts are already changing their calendars to delay the start of the academic year or to start the year with several weeks of online classes. The Houston school district, the largest in the state, will not meet on campus until mid-October.
The UIL announcement said it also anticipates that not all schools will start at the same time and could face disruptions during the season.
“These adjustments reflect the public health situation at this time and the variable number of COVID-19 cases in different geographic areas of the state,” UIL said in its announcement.
The Interscholastic Federation of California released a statement Monday that education-based athletics for the 2020-21 school year will begin with a modified season, anticipating that it will not begin for most sports until December or January.
The CIF did not specify the regular season start dates for each sport, which will be determined by each CIF section throughout the state. However, he did publish dates specifying the last day for the section playoffs in each sport, saying that the last day of football for the section playoffs is April 10, 2021, and the last day for the state and regional championships. It is April 17, 2021.
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