FHSAA changes tune on Friday board meeting
The FHSAA announced Monday night it will livestream Friday’s board of directors meeting, in which the future of fall sports (and possibly other 2020-21 seasons) will be decided.
Before Monday, the FHSAA’s plan was to open the Gainesville meeting physically to the public (with a limit of 50 attendees, nearly half of whom would have been board members) but not broadcast it. Not streaming the meeting would have created a sketchy situation with Florida’s Sunshine Law, as the FHSAA constitution states all of its meetings are “conducted in compliance” with the law and all its records are public. Though the meeting would have been open to the public, a strict limitation on in-person attendance plus the inability to let the general public view it led many to call it a violation of state law and prompted some board members to petition for transparency. Decisions made in this meeting will affect hundreds of schools and thousands of athletes, coaches, faculty and volunteers, and there was already precedent for livestreaming as the past two board meetings were viewable on YouTube.
The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. Friday.
City provides update on athletics restart
The Plant City Parks and Recreation Department announced Aug. 7 the restart of athletic competitions on its fields “has become even more of a moving target” in light of developments with the school board and the FHSAA.
Department director Jack Holland said he does not foresee any competition games on Plant City fields on Aug. 17 “and probably not until Oct. 1 at the earliest,” with the possibility of some sports not having a fall season at all.
“In Hillsborough County, a decision has not been made regarding the start of competition games. At our meetings between the Parks & Recreation Directors of the region (Hillsborough County, Tampa, Temple Terrace, Plant City, Oldsmar, Clearwater and St Petersburg) and the medical professionals from the Hillsborough County Department of Health and USF Health, we have been told to not consider any competition games until late this calendar year,” Holland said. “Many youth sports organizations have already canceled their fall seasons… with that said, the final decisions for Hillsborough County have not been made and I will forward any new info we get as soon as I receive it. We anticipate having some answers early next week.”
Teams can still use the fields for conditioning and skills practices.
PC baseball player picked for Perfect Game festival
Perfect Game, one of the biggest scouting report services int he United States, announced last week five amateur baseball players from Florida have been selected to play in and attend its upcoming 13U Select Baseball game and festival in Oklahoma City. One of them is Plant City’s own Chase Mobley.
“Far more than just a game, the event provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the players selected,” Perfect Game said in a press release. “While in Oklahoma City the players will participate in a series of baseball-related activities in addition to a visit to the Oklahoma City National Memorial, site of the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. In the weeks leading up to the event, players will have the opportunity to participate in a fundraising effort to help support the Toby Keith Foundation’s OK Kids Korral, which benefits families with children battling cancer. Prior to the game, players will visit with children at the OK Kids Korral, for which they will help raise money leading up to the event. OK Kids Korral, a project of The Toby Keith Foundation, provides a cost-free, convenient, and comfortable home for pediatric cancer patients receiving treatment at The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center, Peggy & Charles Stephenson Cancer Center and other nearby facilities.”
The event will take place from Sept. 4-6. The 13U game will be streamed on perfectgame.org.