“This will allow schools to see how re-entry goes and what the Governor announces on or around Sept. 11” regarding the next step in coronavirus restrictions, according to a statement issued by Moore County Schools.

The N.C. High School Athletic Association announced earlier this month that it was rearranging the 2020-21 sports calendar and pushing back the first sports competitions to Nov. 4 at the earliest.

Moore County Schools had allowed athletic workouts and performing arts activities such as marching band, to start earlier this month. Each of the three high schools developed plans for workouts that adhere to NCHSAA safety guidelines. The activities had to follow tight restrictions around social distancing and other health protocols. Students early on engaged in individualized conditioning drills.

Normally, full practice for fall sports would have begun Aug. 1, and teams would have begun playing games this past week. Fall sports include football, boys soccer, boys tennis, girls golf, and boys and girls cross country, along with cheerleading.

Beginning Sept. 14, student athletes will be divided into two groups. One group will work out on Mondays and Wednesdays and the first and third Friday of the month. A second group will work out on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the second and fourth Friday of the month.

Teams would be allowed to go to five days a week 30 days prior to the official start date of practice for their sport. Those five-day dates would begin:

* Oct. 5 for volleyball and both men’s and women’s cross country;

* Nov. 2 for women’s and men’s basketball and cheerleading;

* Nov. 30 for men’s and women’s lacrosse and men’s soccer;

* Feb. 1 for women’s soccer, men’s tennis and softball;

* March 12 for wrestling, baseball, women’s tennis and men’s and women’s track.

The calendar that the NCHSAA rolled out on Wednesday is based on guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and N.C. Department of Health and Human Services as well as input from the association’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, sports ad hoc committee and a survey of public school superintendents from around the state.

Games for most sports will be limited to 14 during the regular season. Cross country, swimming and diving, and track and field will have no more than 10 meets.

Football teams will be limited to seven games in a regular season that runs from Feb. 26 through April 9, 2021. Football team practices can begin on Feb. 8.

The basketball regular season will run from Jan. 4 through Feb. 19. Practices can start Dec. 7.

Practices for mens’ soccer, and mens’ and women’s lacrosse, can start Jan. 11. The regular season will run from Jan. 25 through March 12.

Golf, women’s soccer, softball and Men’s tennis practices can start on March 1, with the season beginning March 15 and ending April 30.

After the start of practice no earlier than Nov. 4, the regular seasons for cross country and volleyball will run from Nov. 16 through Jan. 8.

Swim team practices can begin Nov. 23, and meets will run from Dec. 7 through Jan. 30.

Baseball, women’s tennis, track and field and wrestling practices can begin on April 12. The season for those sports will run from April 26 through June 11.

Athletics directors are being guided that workouts could move into a “Phase II” on Sept. 14, if possible, based on the trends of the virus and the direction of Gov. Roy Cooper. Phase II would allow teams to practice in more common fashion.