South Carolina has become a “hot spot” for coronavirus cases and the government officials are concerned that we are going to see an explosion in hospitalizations and deaths. Mind you at this point, there have been 691 recorded deaths from the coronavirus in South Carolina which has a population of 5.2 million people. Local officials in Greenville are jumping in to action as seen by the City of Greenville issuing a mask mandate for all grocery stores and pharmacies within the city limits. Now Greenville County School is suspending all sports practices and training through July 20th.
Greenville County Schools athletics is a massive operation. There are 16 high schools in the county. Summer workouts and training is a huge part of all sports programs here in the state of South Carolina. This news yesterday came as quite a shock and surprise to many in the sports community.
There is no guidance yet as to what might happen after July 20th. Most high school football programs are slated to begin official practices at the end of July. That doesn’t give them much time to adjust if they need to. The first games are supposed to kick off on August 20, 2020.
The South Carolina High School League had a meeting yesterday and a Zoom conference with the commissioner. They are very cautious about committing to any start to fall sports.