After several weeks of limited practices, a move made official on Wednesday gives the Kids Football League the opportunity to start the 2020 season in the next month.
KFL follows the Kentucky Healthy at Work Youth Sports Guidelines. When an executive order was amended in May to take effect in June, it gave organizations rules to follow, depending on the sport.
For the KFL and its practices, they were allowed “low contact, medium touching.” But, like high school players in the area know, practices without a football can be more difficult to continually be engaged.
“We’ve just been adhering to that all along,” KFL League President Sean Land said.
Land said they started practice in early August and it’s been difficult for the players and others involved.
“We’ve had a month and a half of practices that would normally be analogous to the first practice, the second practice,” he said. “Everybody’s been in small groups, 10 or fewer players. That’s the way the season always begins but it was getting very frustrating for players, parents, losing interest. The timing of this was perfect.”
On Tuesday, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services signed an order that replaces the initial set of the healthy at work guidelines with new ones.
“We had some ups and downs,” Land said. “In late July, the KHSAA announced the plan to return. Youth football leagues were jumping for joy thinking that applies to us too.”
It did not, as there was a section carved out just for high school sports.
Finally, Land said they submitted a thorough return-to-play plan that goes along with the guidelines.
With the way their schedule is currently set, KFL will get a few weeks of practicing with pads before their first game on Oct. 10. Playoffs will be Nov. 7-8 with the championship games coming the following week.
Land said the plan is to start distributing equipment because they had held off since they weren’t sure what would happen.
For Land, he’s looking forward to seeing the kids grab their helmet and put it on for the first time.
Land said there’s no way they could have gotten everything sorted out for the season on their own.
“We owe a huge amount of gratitude to Clay Horton at the health department, both city and county parks departments,” he said. “(They) really helped us with guidance.”
When the season gets underway Oct. 10, Land said he’s not sure what will be going on around him but the it’ll all be okay as there’s football being played.
“I’m truly looking forward to it but the truth is, we don’t know what it’s going to look like,” he said. “The guidelines that we’re following, it’s not going to be a traditional youth football Saturday … It’s going to be totally different but that’s kind of exciting. You always like what you’re accustomed to but the new challenges, they’re exciting too.”
