Fulton County delays start of Fall sports to Sept. 14

The return of high school football in Fulton County has been postponed, again.

The system announced all fall sports competitions will be delayed until the week of Sept. 14. Softball, volleyball, cross country, cheerleading and football have been affected. Marching band was hit with the same delay.

In making the announcement, Fulton County Schools noted, “The district will continue to monitor the impacts of COVID-19 moving forward and make a determination for the remainder of the season by (Sept. 14).”

The system allowed the teams and band to continue to practice.

The postponement comes nearly a month after the Georgia High School Association pushed back the start of football for all schools by two weeks.

The GHSA announced this week that schools will be permitted to start football on Sept. 4 as it stands right now. But that might change.

“Our plan as of today is to move forward with the September 4 date for opening football season, as directed by the Board of Trustees,” the GHSA noted on its website. “However, it is possible that the start date of September 4 could change based on COVID-19 data.”

Several schools and districts have already announced altered plans for their high school football teams this season. Rockdale County postponed fall sports for its three high schools including Salem High, Heritage High and Rockdale County High. Twiggs, Stewart and Calhoun County have also postponed their high school football seasons. Dougherty County and Decatur High School announced they won’t start until Oct. 2.

The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System pushed back the start of high school football for its schools to Oct. 1, and will limit schools to playing intra-district schools only. Those teams will forfeit all region games against out-of-district opponents. They haven’t made a determination about the state playoffs yet.

Cox Media Group