Moved by the news that Georgia leads the nation in heat-related deaths of football players over the past 15 years, the Georgia High School Association made sweeping changes Monday to make football practices safer.
In its monthly meeting in Macon, the GHSA also took another step toward figuring out how Class A private and public schools will determine their state champions beginning in 2012-13.
The restrictions on football practice are the first of their kind in state history.
Each player must participate in five days of practices in only helmets, t-shirts and shorts before going to pads in August. These practices without pads, which may begin no sooner than July 25, are limited to two hours. Practice in pads, which may begin Aug. 1, are limited to three hours.
Three-a-day preseason practices are banned, and two-a-day practices cannot take place on consecutive days or exceed a total of five hours in a single day.
“We want to make sure that all the kids are out in the sun with moderate levels of practices without the heavy equipment so they get used to outdoors,’’ Swearngin said. “Research has shown there are times when players are most vulnerable.’’
The new rules come in the wake of a three-year study commissioned by the GHSA and completed by University of Georgia. It found that heat-related deaths among football players tripled nationwide between 1994 and 2009 and that Georgia suffered more deaths at all levels of the sport, not just high school, than any other state.
On the public-private front, the GHSA decided that the Class A playoff qualifiers in football, basketball, baseball and softball will be determined by a points system based on wins and losses against other Class A schools. The system will be determined by a GHSA committee.
For track and field, cross country, golf and tennis, there will be four public-school regions, called areas, and four private-school regions that form 16-team state playoff brackets.
Under those two scenarios, there would be separate playoffs leading to separate public and private school champions.
In other sports, public and private schools will continue to vie for a single Class A championship as they’ve done. They are volleyball, wrestling, swimming and lacrosse.
In other GHSA decisions Monday:
- Ticket prices for the football playoffs are going up. Beginning this fall, they will be $10 for the first two rounds, $12 for the quarterfinals, $15 for the semifinals and $20 for the finals.
- The basketball playoffs will be played at the site of the higher-seeded team for the first three rounds instead of the first two in 2013 and 2014. The semifinals will be played at neutral regional sites. The 14 state finals will be played at one to-be-determined site for three days. The change was made to accommodate the loss of the Gwinnett Arena as a finals site. The Arena will be hosting the SEC women’s tournament in 2013 and 2014.
- Soccer state finals will be played at neutral sites beginning in 2013.
- A sectional tournament that takes the top four teams from each region will be held in golf to determine qualifiers for the state tournament beginning in 2013.
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