The Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s Board of Control approved a plan to have a fall sports season — including football competition — during its special meeting Tuesday morning.

Here are the important approvals KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett and the Board of Control made during the meeting:

·        Field hockey, soccer, cross country and volleyball practices can begin Aug. 24 with a 7.5-hour week. The first full week of practice will be Aug. 31, with competition beginning Sept. 7.

·        Helmet-only football practices can begin Aug. 24 — with a 7.5-hour week — with the first regular-season games being played Sept. 11. The playoffs — consisting of five weeks — will start Nov. 13. The state championships will take place Dec. 11-12 at Kroger Field in Lexington.

·        The number of football players in uniform on game days will be limited to 60 per team to reduce how many people are on the sidelines. Both soccer and field hockey will be limited to 24 players per team, while volleyball will have a 15-player limit and cross country will be limited to 10.

·        For districts that seed by having teams play one another twice during the regular season, the seeding for the postseason will only use the first game played — not the first game scheduled — between the two teams.

·        Golf teams can begin competition this Friday as approved during an earlier Board of Control meeting.

Although this plan is in place, Tackett said that anything can change as the state and country is still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Board of Control will have another meeting on Aug. 20 at 9:30 a.m. (CT) to examine COVID-19 numbers ahead of the start of fall sports practices on Aug. 24.

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