high school sports

football inching back

Took the first steps today toward gradually getting back to sports this summer and fall.

We still don't know what football will look like this season...but we do know when coaches and players can begin to gradually get back to the sports they love.

The k-h-s-a-a voted allow low-contact sports...such as cross-country and baseball...to begin practicing june 15th.

Those practices would have to follow state restrictions...no more than ten athletes and a coach until june 29th...with up to fifty people at a practice..

Low-contact sports will also be allowed to have competition.

Coaches can interact with athletes june first through the fourteenth.

The traditional summer dead period...june 25th through july 9th was eliminated.

No additional eligibility for athletes because of the pandemic.

And, no changes to the deadline to get a required physical.

Coaches across the state watched that k-h-s-a-a meeting online.

While it's just the beginning...abc 36's austin miller tells why there's plenty of excitement for programs across the state.

In a game defined by inches..

It's only fitting that in a pandemic...high school football is inching its way back.

John hines sot trt- 11 "i'm encouraged.

I think it's a good start.

Obviously all of us want to get football started on time.

We want to have a season, but we got to do it the right way."

For pulaski county head coach john hines and other coaches..

The right way starts june 15th.

That's when players can begin workouts in groups of ten..

And in front of a coach.

What type of workouts is still being determined by each program..

And will follow the khsaa guidelines.

Lexington catholic head coach nigel smith expects some of his guys will show up in decent football shape..

But says there will be plenty of others who need this time after a three-month lay-off.

Nigel smith sot trt- 16 "getting as conditioned as possible, as a group, is probably be part of the biggest challenge; being able to recognize where you are as a full team and then getting to that spot, before coming close to talking about preraration, practices for games and things like that."

Despite the challenges and the unknown of when football will return..

The belief amongst the khsaa and coaches is that thursday's decision is a huge win towards bringing normalcy to the athletes.

John hines sot trt- 17 "growing up in southern kentucky, as a high school kid, your whole life is school and ball.

I mean that's life.

Their life's been taken away since march 16.

Everything that's there daily activity, that's important to them has been taken away.

We've got to get back to giving them their life back."

One inch at a time.

In lexington, austin miller, abc 36.