The Georgia High School Association continues to make alterations to the football season amid the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
The GHSA announced last week that member schools will no longer be permitted to participate in preseason scrimmages.
Gilmer High School was originally set to scrimmage St. Francis, Aug. 21 and Southeast Whitfield, Aug. 28.
Head coach Kevin Saunders was not surprised by the latest news.
“It didn’t catch me off guard by any means,” he said. “I thought we’d be able to keep at least one scrimmage, but it is what it is and we’ll have to go from there. This thing has gotten to the point where anything can change at any moment.”
The latest development comes after the GHSA announced July 20 that the season would be postponed by two weeks and not start until Sept. 4.
Gilmer will stay the course with its practice schedule in preparation for the season opener against archrival Pickens.
“It (the scrimmage cancellations) is not changing anything right now,” he said. “It just gives us more time and we don’t have to hit as much in practice. We’ll probably try to scrimmage each other about every seven days of practice so they get some contact in before we play.
“We scrimmaged each other last Friday and that went fairly well for the first scrimmage. We’ll keep doing things like that and have regular practice.”
ADs decide not to adopt region-wide policies
Athletic directors from Region 7-3A met last Wednesday. One item up for discussion was whether or not to adopt region-wide guidelines in regard to handling large crowds at events such as football games.
They opted not to and will instead allow each school to operate under the guidance of their own local officials and organizations.
“Our district leadership will make the decisions in the best interest of our school, community and our kids,” GHS athletic director Matt Johnson said.
Region athletic directors will continue to share ideas and procedures in effort to create the safest environment for players, coaches and fans.
“With the football season now starting Sept. 4, this ultimately buys us more time and we’ll see what happens between now and then,” Johnson said.
The GHSA also got rid of its plan for teams to have an “extended dugout” for softball. Gilmer had tents in place at last Saturday’s season opener to adhere to social distancing, but they will not be needed in the future.
Now all players and coaches may sit together in the dugout but masks are required.
Additionally, volleyball events at GHS will be restricted to dual matches to ease crowd management and limit interactions between multiple communities.