The Florida High School Athletic Association had an audience of more than 4,000 YouTube viewers on July 20 as its board of directors took on an array of coronavirus concerns and tried to pick a palatable start date for football and other fall sports.
It was much the same three days later, with another avalanche of real-time social-media commentary as the embattled board held another meeting via Zoom and YouTube. That digital discussion saw the board vote to push preseason starts back a month from July 27 to no earlier than Aug. 24.
Round 3 is set for Friday, Aug. 14. It will be the board’s third emergency meeting, but this time the 16-person panel will meet face-to-face in Gainesville and the stands will be nearly empty as the FHSAA hosts an in-person meeting for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak halted high school sports in mid-March.
There will be no FHSAA livestream available and an association official said only 50 people, including board members and staff, will be allowed into the meeting ballroom due to Alachua County social-distancing restrictions. That has sparked heavy criticism as the FHSAA’s 700-plus member schools await the fate of fall sports seasons.
“I was very disappointed to learn that we were not live-streaming this meeting,” FHSAA board president Lauren Otero, a Tampa Plant High assistant principal, said in a phone interview with the Orlando Sentinel on Friday. “The impact that the decisions we are making have on our students and our schools across the state is so important to so many. Given the fact that the two prior meetings were broadcast it didn’t dawn on me that this one would not be.”
Otero said she emailed FHSAA executive director George Tomyn on Thursday asking for the meeting to be streamed to the public in some manner.
“Mr. Tomyn told me there would be no broadcast,” Otero said.
The meeting is set for 10 a.m. at the Best Western Gateway Grand. That hotel is close to association headquarters and has been used regularly for larger FHSAA events, including Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.
Media outlets are complaining loudly about lack of access. Some have suggested the FHSAA will not be following Florida Sunshine Law guidelines because few media members will be granted entry and others will not be able to hear the proceedings.
“I’m not trying to avoid anything,” Tomyn told the Sentinel on Friday. “This is how we decided to do things because this is the customary arrangement for our meetings. Of course the social-distancing requirements mean we cannot accommodate as many people, but this is our standard meeting procedure. We’re an athletic association, not a broadcasting company.”
The FHSAA is not a government entity, but it has long stated that it abides by Florida Sunshine Law standards, which mandate that all meetings of state, county or municipal agencies be open to the public. An association bylaws states, “All FHSAA meetings are conducted in compliance with the Florida Sunshine Law.”
Tomyn said the FHSAA will not be in violation.
“We do follow the Sunshine Laws. I’ve talked to our attorney, Leonard Ireland, at length and we feel very comfortable that we continue to follow the requirements,” Tomyn said. “There has to be availability for public input. We are providing for that.”
The FHSAA has an email address, questions@fhsaa.org, set up for anyone who wants to offer suggestions or ask questions. Those must be received prior to 8 a.m. on Aug. 14 to be shared with all board members for consideration. Its Friday announcement stated individuals who wish to speak to the board can attend the meeting and sign up on site prior to the start of the meeting.
Tomyn said those who attend will likely be allowed into the ballroom for several minutes to make statements and then will go back out to allow room for the next guest.
Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, the FHSAA held directors’ meetings five times per year, without webcasts, in its board room. Those meetings were open to the public with opportunities for guests to address the board.
Tomyn said full minutes will be taken and the meeting will be audio-taped by the FHSAA, as is the norm. But those transcripts are typically not made immediately available to media or others.
The meeting was initiated by Citrus County School Board member Doug Dodd, who submitted a motion that asked the FHSAA board to reconvene in person by Aug. 17. His measure, which passed by an 11-4 vote, was designed to give FHSAA staff time to confer with the fall sports advisory committees and prepare return-to-play options for the board to consider.
FHSAA administrators held online meetings last week with the athletic directors committee and coaches committees for football, girls volleyball, cross country, golf and swimming. Each committee was presented a document that listed three options, one of which would delay fall practices until Nov. 30 and shift postseason play for those sports into January and February. Another would keep Aug. 24 as time for fall sports tryouts and a third is built around starting in September or later.
The board could choose to approve one of those plans or consider others.
This article originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Buddy Collings can be reached by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
