The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) recently announced new football practice procedures that limit live contact. The procedures, which aim to improve player safety, take effect Aug. 1, the first practice day of the 2016 season.
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During the regular season, live contact will be restricted to 30 minutes per day and 80 minutes total per week. Live contact — defined as drills with game-like conditions where players are taken to the ground—will not be allowed to occur on more than two consecutive days, and cannot exceed three practice days per week.
“Player safety has and will always be the number one goal of the FHSAA,” outgoing FHSAA Executive Director Dr. Roger Dearing said in a release. “Protecting our student-athletes is paramount in growing the game of football and this administrative procedure is a step in the right direction.”
From day six of preseason practice (Aug. 1) through the Monday of the first regular season game, live contact will be limited to 40 minutes each day, with no more than two straight days of live contact. During two-a-days, only one practice can include live contact and cannot surpass 40 minutes. On that Monday, the regular-season guidelines come into effect for the remainder of the season.
