Georgia High School Association Executive Director Robin Hines has confidence the member schools will follow the COVID-19 guidelines as student-athletes return to campus next week for conditioning and workouts only.
Hines told AccessWDUN on Thursday that he expects all members to follow all the rules and guidelines.
"Not only that but understand the importance of keeping safety as the top priority," Hines said. "We have the utmost confidence in our schools and that they will make every effort to do things the right way."
But what if a school is found to be violating the guidelines? Hines pointed to the GHSA Constitution and By-laws.
"If there are instances of not following by-laws or guidelines for conditioning, it will be handled on a case by case basis while referring to the GHSA Fines Structure for Rules Violations which is found in the Constitution and By-Laws," he said.
In accordance with Section 13 of Article IV of the Constitution of the Georgia High School Association,
member schools are required to abide by all the rules of the Association.
The Executive Director of the Association is empowered to make a determination as to whether a violation
of GHSA rules has occurred, and to assess an appropriate penalty that may include:
1. a fine of not more than $2,500.00 per offense, and/or
2. probation in the sport(s) in which the violation occurred, and/or
3. suspension from the Association for up to a full calendar year, and/or
4. forfeiture of games and/or contests.
Upon return to campus, student-athletes and coaches will be asked to follow a set of strict regulations, which are designed to keep everyone safe and free of COVID-19. The GHSA updated and clarified the guidelines earlier this week. Below are the updates.
-- Groups of 20, including coaches, for workouts per sport at any given time at the campus/facility. The campus/facility denotes the buildings and contiguous property surrounding the buildings. You cannot have a group from one sport in the weight room and another from the same sport on a field on the same campus. This includes adjacent middle school properties. If your middle school that feeds the high school is on an entirely different campus/facility, a second group from the same sport could condition at that location as well following the same guidelines. Multiple sport conditioning groups should be scheduled with staggered starting and ending time to prevent large gatherings before and after workouts.
-- Groups should be the same individuals (including coaches) for each session to limit the risk of exposure. Students or coaches CANNOT change groups for the duration of this guidance. Athletic Directors and Head Coaches are allowed to monitor all workouts. Schools that employ a Strength and Conditioning coach may use that individual to direct all workouts. These individuals count in the group limit of 20 persons. Social distancing, hand washing/sanitizer are stressed and masks/face coverings for these individuals is highly recommended. Groups should be consistent from workout to workout. If there are multiple-sport athletes, one conditioning group should be selected and adhered to for the duration of this guidance. There should be no student-athlete in multiple conditioning groups.
