FORT WORTH, Texas — Private high school sports teams in Texas are bracing to get less practice time before school starts in the fall.
Sources told 6 Sports the Texas Association of Private & Parochial Schools, the Fort Worth-based organization which governs extra-curricular activities for Texas' private schools, told its athletic directors in a recent webinar it would lose 2-a-days if Texas schools return early in the fall and could go into their school-day practice schedules as early as Aug. 3rd.
"Normal school from 8-3, practice afterward, that sort of thing," Bryce Frazier, head coach and athletic director at Eagle Christian Academy in Waco, said. "It may be just that the TEA only makes public schools, I'm not sure what will happen with private schools."
The news was passed along after Gov. Greg Abbott announced he would begin to loosen restrictions on athletic facilities in Texas on June 1st after closing them due to the coronavirus pandemic in March.
During a normal practice schedule before classes start, TAPPS schools can conduct "no more than three practices per two-day period" and "no more than two practices in one day." They are restricted to three hours in full pads per day, five hours of practice in total.
TAPPS sent its instructions to schools around 4 p.m. Tuesday to set policies for summer workouts which abide by local, state and national coronavirus-prevention laws in order to keep athletes and coaches safe.
The status of the 2020 high school football season remains unknown, as information during the pandemic continues to update. But Frazier said he remains hopeful.
"Even if it's limited fans or no fans, coaches and players are just ready to get back after it," Frazier said. "They don't care."
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