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Press Release
FHSAA limits live contact for high school football
GAINESVILLE, FL (6/6/16) – The Florida High School Athletic Association announced Monday the implementation of procedures which limits live contact and improves player safety. The procedure goes into effect August 1, the first practice day of the 2016 season.
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 occur on more than two consecutive days and may not exceed three practice days per week.
Click to read the full FHSAA Football Contact Procedure.This rule is intended to limit live action drills and simulations and not the number of practices a team may participate in full pads. A team may participate in "AIR," "BAGS," AND “THUD” during any point after the acclimatization period.
“Player safety has and will always be the number one goal of the FHSAA,” FHSAA Executive Director Dr. Roger Dearing said. “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 through Monday of the first regular season game (or end of spring practice), 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 shall include live contact and it shall not surpass 40 minutes.
“The game of football will always come with some inherent risk, but we will never stop working to try and make one of the greatest team sports on earth safer,” FHSAA Football Administrator Frank Beasley said. “We will continue our efforts to educate and teach coaches on the Drive to December about how to run effective practices while using the limited-contact procedures.”
The FHSAA worked alongside Practice Like Pros founder Terry O’Neil in coming up with the procedure. With endorsements from NCAA Executive Vice President Oliver Luck, Dr. James Andrews of the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine and football legends such as Archie Manning, O’Neil has worked with high school associations nationally to improve player safety in America.
"We thank leadership of the FHSAA for working with us on these practice-field restrictions,” O’Neil said. “As a trendsetter and a top-three football state, Florida sends this message nationally: In order to preserve the game we love on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons, let's mitigate risk Monday through Thursday. Ultimately, high school teams can and will practice like pros.”
About the FHSAA
The Florida High School Athletic Association supervises and regulates interscholastic athletic programs for high school students at member public, private and charter schools. The organization also recognizes and honors academic achievement among student-athletes at almost 800 middle, junior and senior high schools statewide. Headquartered in Gainesville, it is the official governing body for interscholastic athletics in Florida.
