JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County became the area’s first school district to cancel high school sporting events and announced on Friday that spring athletic events will be canceled “until further notice.”
“We are also canceling all after school extracurricular activities including athletic events, field trips and other organized activities until further notice," Greene said in an email to employees. "When we return from the extended Spring Break, student athletes and performance group practices will be permitted to continue at that time.”
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Columbia County schools announced shortly after Duval County that it would not play sporting events from March 16-27. The Florida Department of Education followed Duval’s announcement shortly after, recommending that school districts extend spring breaks a week, pushing most students out of school until March 30.
Baker, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns, Suwannee and Union counties all announced similar breaks from athletics.
In Duval’s case, “further notice” could mean a return to sports, at least practice, as early as March 23, the first day back for DCPS students after spring break was extended by a week. At worst, it could wind up as an indefinite break from sports, as is the case with college and professional events.
The Bob Hayes Invitational Track and Field meet is the biggest loss on the Duval County menu. It was scheduled for March 15 at Raines. Other school districts have yet to announce any major changes to the athletic calendar, such as canceling or postponing events in bulk.
“You’ve got to be proactive about this, no doubt about that,” First Coast football coach and athletic director Marty Lee said Friday afternoon. “I’m in my upper 50s. I’m at risk. I think they’re doing the right thing. If I was the county athletic director, I would do the same thing.”
The Florida High School Athletic Association announced earlier in the week that it hadn’t made any decisions on spring sports state championships, and deferred decisions on practice and games to individual school districts.