The NCHSAA will delay the 2020 fall sports season beyond its planned Sept. 1 start date for member schools, the association said Thursday morning in a news release.
The announcement came the morning after Gov. Roy Cooper, in a Wednesday news conference, extended North Carolina's Phase Two guidelines five more weeks through at least 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11.
“Unfortunately, this announcement means that the start of sports for the 2020-2021 school year will be delayed beyond September 1 for NCHSAA member schools," commissioner Que Tucker said in the release.
She said the NCHSAA staff and board of directors will "review all available options" and seek input from its Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, the N.C. Dept. of Public Instruction and a sports ad hoc committee as it works to "announce a calendar for playing sports during the upcoming school year."
The NCHSAA said it hopes to announce that next plan of action by Aug. 17.
"We want to play sports during this upcoming school year and are making plans to do so," Tucker said. "However, the health and safety of all participants, including coaches and other essential staff, will be a priority as decisions and plans are made.”
The NCHSAA has taken a measured approach to resumption this summer. It allowed schools to begin socially distanced Phase One guidelines on June 15, at the discretion of their individual school districts/principals.
And in late July, it allowed schools to work out under Phase Two guidelines starting this past Monday, Aug. 3. Under those guidelines, players can most notably share equipment such as footballs and basketballs within their "pods" of five to 10 athletes.
Chatham County Schools resumed Phase One workouts at its three high schools, Northwood, Jordan-Matthews and Chatham Central, on July 6.
It suspended those workouts "until further notice" on July 14. That suspension came at day after the Chatham County Schools Board of Education unanimously passed a motion to start the 2020-21 school year (scheduled to begin Aug. 17) with four weeks of fully online learning.
Reporter Chapel Fowler can be reached at cfowler@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @chapelfowler.