The NSAA established protocols and guidelines for each fall sport, and the implementation of those has gotten things off to a safe start across the board.

“We’re gaining some momentum,” said NSAA assistant director Nate Neuhaus, who is in charge of football. “Everyone has a great plan about how to move forward and right now they’re making that plan work. If we can get into the season, manage it and adapt where we need to, we’ll be okay.”

The board left the current postseason football playoff structure in place, even though replacement games for regular-season games eliminated by COVID will not count in the wild-card standings.

The next board meeting is Sept. 17, “and that’s a good target date to see where we’re at,” Neuhaus said. “At that point, we can decide what the back half of the season looks like if we need to.”

Earlier this month, Omaha Public Schools called off fall sports when it moved to full remote learning for the first quarter, which ends Oct. 16. Alan Hauschild, the father of a Omaha Burke cross country runner, addressed the board during the public comment section of the meeting and asked them to consider three possible remedies for OPS cross country athletes — extending the deadline for cooperatives, consider allowing OPS runners as unattached individuals in races and offering a second Class A district date early during the week of the state meet on Oct. 23.