High School football in Alabama is set to begin on schedule this season. The first games are scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 20, will the first full slate the following night.
Steve Savarese, executive director of the Alabama High School Athletic Association, made the announcement in a Thursday afternoon press conference. While Savarese stressed that coaches, players and fans need to strictly follow the guidelines set forth by the state and medical experts concerning COVID-19, he said that safety rules will be largely left to individual schools and school districts.
School districts including Mobile and Selma that have decided to begin school remotely will still have the option to participate in athletics. But that decision will be left to those school districts.
Savarese said that any player who wanted to transfer from one school to another would still have to followed the existing guidelines for making a move to the new school district even if they were leaving a district that was not offering athletics.