OHSAA Fall Sports Practices Begin

The Ohio High School Athletic Association says all fall sports are allowed to begin practicing on Saturday.

Those sports are girls tennis, girls and boys golf, field hockey, girls and boys soccer, girls and boys cross country, volleyball and football.

While all fall sports can begin practicing only golf, tennis and volleyball have been approved to hold contests between schools.

The OHSAA says it continues to work with Governor DeWine’s office on approval for contests in football, cross country, field hockey and soccer.

The OHSAA recently suspended scrimmages in the four fall contact sports that have not yet been approved by the governor for school versus school competition.

OHSAA Board of Directors on Friday reaffirmed their position that the fall sports season will go forward as planned.

“It is important to keep athletic activity moving forward,” said Dan Leffingwell, president of the OHSAA Board of Directors and superintendent of the Noble Local Schools in Sarahsville.

“And with that, we believe our member schools provide our student-athletes with the safest possible environment to return to play and that our school programs are the best avenue to help students learn lifelong lessons and provide social, emotional and physical benefits that other programs cannot. Moving forward allows those students to continue to be engaged with their school coaches and teammates. Membership data also supports this decision.”