There will be no football scrimmages, jamborees or 7-on-7 drills between different schools this fall, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association said in releasing fall sports guidelines on Friday.

That is in contrast to what some area coaches had hoped for in preparing for the upcoming season after the LHSAA announced Wednesday it was pushing the start of the football season back to Oct. 8 at the earliest.

LHS head football coach and athletic director Terry Martin had said that he anticipated some sort of scrimmage or jamboree week being approved because, especially for smaller schools, going straight from practice to a full, four-quarter game is tough on the players because they aren’t used to the length of playing time at the start of the season.

“One of the biggest things since I’ve been in Loreauville, that week one game is brutal, even if you have a scrimmage and a jamboree,” he said. “When you have so many guys going both ways, it’s really tough on those kids to play week one, four quarters. I can’t imagine what it would be like if we went just from practice to trying to do that.”

At the time of the LHSAA’s announcement pushing the season’s start back to would have been the third week of the season, the organization had apparently left open the possibility of teams holding scrimmages or jamborees. That door was slammed shut in Friday’s fall sports guidelines sent to member institutions.

According to the memo sent by the LHSAA and signed by Executive Director Eddie Bonine, the guidelines were made with support from the National Federation of High Schools, the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and local health officials, and approved by the LHSAA Executive Committee on Wednesday.

“The LHSAA acknowledges that no plan can guarantee that an individual will not contract COVID-19. The recommendations in this plan are designed to mitigate the spread of the virus. The LHSAA fully intends to support its member schools and the student athletes who desire to compete in interscholastic athletics and will continue to assess all areas as more information becomes available,” the memorandum said. “These are minimal guidelines that are subject to modification. Regulations, guidelines and circumstances can vary from one member school to the next. The goal from everyone is to provide a safe environment for student-athletes, coaches, athletic directors, athletic trainers, game officials and spectators.”

In addition to football, guidelines were given for cross country, swimming and volleyball as well as general information on state and federal standards and guidelines for dealing with COVID-19.

Read the full memo with guidelines at http://cdn.lhsaa.org/uploads/images/Fall_Sports_COVID-19_Guidelines_8-7-2020_(Complete).pdf

Football

Teams that do not qualify for the playoffs after the regular season — currently an eight-game schedule, which could be further reduced to seven games or six games — will have the option to play in a “bowl” game. Schools would have until the regional round of the playoffs to play the “bowl” game, with the two schools splitting the gate proceeds.

On the sidelines, the team box is being expanded to the 15-yard lines — players and coaches normally must be in the team box between the 20-yard lines — to help with social distancing. Coaches are asked to expand the team box back toward the stands as well, and everyone at the game except the 22 players on the field is required to wear a facemask, from trainers, coaches, players and any other essential personnel on the sidelines to fans. All also are expected to maintain a 6-foot social distance from each other.

The memo also sets out practice and game protocols.

Volleyball

Practice and intra-squad scrimmages are allowed during Phase II, with Aug. 10 set as the permissive start date.

Static groupings of 25 students also will be allowed, but if groups convene indoors they must do so in a room enclosed by a wall or partition. Those in large areas like gymnasiums or auditoriums that contain more than one group must have a wall or partition separating the groups.

“It is our hope that we all do our part to ensure the positive progress for the sport of volleyball and all fall sports during these unusual times,” the memo stated. “The information provided within this document is to assist in that progress and could change as more is learned about COVID-19. LHSAA staff and sport specific advisory committees have been working on the formulation for sport seasons and those potential modifications.”

Cross Country

The memo outlines plans for staggered start times and limiting the number of spectators at cross country events this fall.

Masks are a high priority for cross country, with a recommendation that start and finish lines be in different locations. The memo also introduces options for individual time trials and team time trial racing, with up to 25 runners on the starting line during Phase II and 50 in Phase III.

Swimming

Three options are presented for swim meets — a traditional format alternating girls and boys by event, running all girls’ events followed by all boys’ events, or a “virtual” meet wherein teams would swim and submit their results to the “host” school, which would combine results as the official meet results.

Relays are not required and are at the discretion of the host team, but those choosing to run relays must have a queuing area large enough to accommodate relay swimmers.

Swimmers should wear a mask until the start of the race, and be spaced six feet apart and in order by lane.