The LHSAA says football teams cannot play games until Louisiana moves into phase four of it's caronavirus recovery.
The news came Monday when LHSAA Executive Director Eddie Bonine spoke to the House Education Committee.
"We have to get to phase four if we want to play football," said Bonine. "In phase three of that graph, players can wear pads and suit up, but there is no head banging, no collision. It's more about conditioning and getting ready for the season."
The league handed out a spreadsheet, detailing what different sports can and cannot do during different phases of recovery. Red signifies things that cannot happen, while green signifies things that can.
The LHSAA's statement was not a surprise to anyone around high school football, in fact, it was expected.
"For us nothing changed," said Vermilion Catholic head coach Broc Prejean. "That's been my presumption all along, we had to get out of phase three before they let us line up on Friday nights.
The news still shook the trees Monday and cause a stir on social media because it was the first the league had put the comment on record.
"I think graphics of it being on social media and Twitter scared everybody, but for us, that's what it's been all along," Prejean added.
Bonine stood behind last week's statement that there are no plans to cancel the season, but did ease back from his hard "no" when asked about moving football to the spring telling the committee that it's not the league's first option.
Bonine told the committee the timeline for seeing football, or any fall sport, will also be tied to schools opening. An important statement because the LHSAA is a private organization.
"We're an education based association," he said. "As are the other 50 across the United States. That's the most important part to me. We have to have education first, then athletics closely behind, but I truly believe there is a blend we have to have."
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