The varying effects of the pandemic in the state, from the rural Panhandle to the Peninsula’s urban pockets, almost certainly means the fall prep sports season will launch at different times in different places.

With that in mind, a collection of athletic directors from at least seven west central Florida school districts are making plans to lift off together. And perhaps even land simultaneously, at championship events of their own creation.

Administrators from Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Manatee, Polk, Osceola and Orange counties are set to meet by phone again today to continue discussions of a fall sports coalition that would essentially keep their calendars coordinated.

“It’s not necessarily set in stone. We’re just trying to align,” Pasco County athletic director Matt Wicks said.

“Most of my districts are in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Hernando and Polk. So if we all align and started on the same date, even if we’re not playing the (state playoff) series, we don’t really necessarily have to worry about rescheduling our games.

“We could just adjust it to the schedule we decide on, and it makes everybody’s life easier, and we could still give our kids a great season.”

As it stands, no fall sports program in Florida may begin practice until Aug. 24 at the earliest. That revised date (Monday was the initial start date) was established in a Thursday night meeting of the Florida High School Athletic Association’s board of directors, which could endorse some stringent COVID-19 recommendations when it meets again Aug. 17.

While some areas — such as sparsely populated Panhandle counties — appear ready to commence Aug. 24, some metro areas such as Miami-Dade might not even begin practicing until October.

Even before the new start date was established, Pasco already had determined to postpone the start of fall sports in its county until Sept. 7, and Hillsborough had postponed until Aug. 10. Hernando and Pinellas have postponed indefinitely.

But if the counties in the same general area can agree on a uniform start/ending date for each of their fall sports, a conventional regular season — if not playoff season — could be salvaged. If they agree that the association’s Aug. 24 works as a start date, a coalition might not even be necessary.

“There has been nothing concretely decided,” Hillsborough County athletic director Lanness Robinson said.

“It makes sense to get together and have conversations about possibilities versus waiting ‘til the last hour, then trying to struggle to come up with something.”

If the coalition’s start date doesn’t jibe with the association’s calendar, Wicks said the group could — could — form their own set of championships in addition to their own regular season schedules. No county would withdraw from the association per se, they just would refuse to participate in the normal state series.

“We’re not seceding from the union,” Wicks said. “We’re just trying to do what’s best for kids right now in this crazy time, and give them the season that they deserve.”