TSSAA Sport Practices Could Begin On Time

With fluctuating safety restrictions, the TSSAA could have practices beginning on time in June.

White County High School Principal Grant Swallows said there’s a tough balance between what the TSSAA decides and local school districts.

“There in major cities and in our state there’s a lot more cases going on and maybe in some rural areas,” Swallows said. “From a government standpoint for high school athletics, TSSAA can just provide guidance and support and let the local districts decide what they’re going to do for practice.”

The school year ends May 22 and while there hasn’t been school in session, athletics hasn’t met either. Swallows said he’s surprised how much guidances changed over the past few weeks.

The TSSAA announced they will maintain the same schedule and school districts will determine if teams will practice during the summer. Swallows said they need to be smart when planning ahead.

“We gotta think outside the box on how we’re conditioning our players because we just can’t ignore what’s happened over the last month or two just because we’ve always done it a certain way,” Swallows said.

Football conditioning, weight lifting, and basketball practices and camps usually begin in June. Swallows said fall sport teams begin practice in July.