CHAPEL HILL — High school football will not be played this fall and other prep sports will have shortened schedules, North Carolina High School Athletic Association Commissioner Que Tucker announced Wednesday, Aug. 12 in a video statement.
The changes were put into place after being voted on by the NCHSAA Board of Directors on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
The high school football regular season will now begin on Feb. 26. The season, which has been reduced to seven games, will conclude on April 9.
The first high school football practices are set for Feb. 8.
Cross country and volleyball will begin regular season play on Nov. 16 and will conclude on Jan. 8.
The basketball season has been delayed until December and will run through mid-February. The season will feature 14 games.
Basketball practices can begin on Dec. 7. The first regular season games will be played on Jan. 4 and the season will conclude on Feb. 19.
Boys soccer will begin in January and end in mid-March while girls soccer will be played in March and April. Both seasons will have 14 games.
Softball and baseball are both slated to play 14-game seasons. Softball is scheduled to begin its first games on March 15 and baseball can play games as early as April 26.
Track and field and wrestling can both begin competition on April 26 and will conclude on June 11. Track and field is allowed 10 contests and wrestling is allowed 14.
Cheerleading will be able to compete in an invitational on May 1.
There will be no tryouts or practices for any sports until Nov. 4.
No decisions have been made regarding state playoffs but the NCHSAA does plan on hosting postseason play in some capacity.
“A few weeks ago, I said we will play again,” Tucker said. “It is with that same spirit that we present this calendar. If we want high school sports to return to normal— whatever that looks like– we all have to do our part to stop the spread of COVID-19.”