The LHSAA represented by executive director Eddie Bonine presented a plan for fall sports to take place this year.

The presentation to the House Education Committee detailed what needs to happen for fall sports to take place.

Right now, Louisiana is in Phase 2, which allows for limited workouts. Phase 3 changes the game a bit and allows for practices and 7 on 7’s.

Phase 4 allows practices, scrimmages, and most importantly games.

There is talk of flipping spring and fall sports seasons. That’s not Bonine’s favorite option.

In the presentation on Monday, Bonine made it clear there were no plans yet to cancel fall sports. He did reaffirm the notion that football games cannot take place until Louisiana past Phase 3 of reopening.

“We gotta get to Phase 4 to play football,” Bonine says.

Bonine gave committee members a chart that included four phases. Phase 3 allows for limited contact during practices.

“Football players can wear the pads,” Bonine said. “They can suit up, but there’s still no head-banging and collisions if you will. It’s more about conditioning and getting prepared for the season.”

Govenor John Bel Edwards ordered Louisiana to remain in Phase 2 until at least July 24th. The first games of the high school football season are slated for the first week of September.

But Bonine made it clear that the fate of LHSAA athletics relies heavily on the state of academics.

“It all depends on when we get students back to school,” Bonine said. “We’re an education-based association, as are the other 50 across the United States.”

Getting to Phase 4 would allow for full contact during both practices and games.

Bonine and his staff are looking at several options for what this season can look like, including what is virtually a last resort: swapping the fall and spring sport seasons.

“We’ve had multiple proposals that we’ve consulted with not only the Coaches Association but also we take into consideration the officials and their age and susceptibility, but also the advisories of each one of those respective sports through the Coaches Association and with my staff.”

The reaction has been steady from coaches, and the information on Monday caught many players by surprise. This information came out today, but wasn’t new. It’s been a consistent message from Bonine regarding prep football’s 2020 future.

Coaches are hoping for the best.

“The biggest thing is for us to get to Phase 3,” Acadiana football head coach Matt McCullough says. “We get there and we can practice. If you didn’t know about a Phase 4, then I could see how that would be surprising. We need to get to three and then if we get to four, we will get to play games.”

“As of right now, as of this morning, it was business as usual,” Lafayette Christian football head coach Jacarde Carter says. “We kind of got this latest mandate after we got done with working out today. We’ll have to sit down as a coaching staff. We’ll see if it’s beneficial for us to workout. Are we gonna burn out before the season? We have to weigh our options. It’s not gonna be just me making this decision. We’re gonna sit down as a coaching staff and see what’s the best course of action to move forward from here.”