LAURINBURG — High school athletics will look different this school year after the North Carolina High School Athletic Association announced earlier this month the new schedule. But when to allow students to begin conditioning was a hot topic for the Scotland County Board of Education this week.

The first sports to begin, according to the NCHSAA, are cross-country and volleyball, which will begin practice on Nov. 4 — with swimming and diving following behind on Nov. 23.

Scotland High Athletic Director David Johnson came to the board asking that teams be allowed to begin conditioning on campus beginning on Sept. 1. The conditioning would follow the NCHSAA and CDC guidelines to keep students safe.

“Coaches are permitted and this being a form of coaching,” Johnson said. “When you’re talking about conditioning you’re incorporating things that you do within your sport.”

Vice-Chair Carolyn Banks asked if sports such as football would begin conditioning now, even though the season doesn’t begin until February.

“Football is year-round, all sports really,” Johnson said. “The schedule says February, but if you don’t allow those guys to start lifting weights and start conditioning, their bodies are not going to be able to compete at a higher level. There are a lot of injuries if you’re not properly training.”

Johnson added it was like that for other sports, as well, and that the athletes needed proper time to train their bodies, and typically is done year-round.

Guidelines for the conditioning look different than that of practice, as well, with there being small groups or pods. But when practice begins the team is allowed to all come together.

But there were still concerns about the spread of COVID-19.

“I don’t want those kids, if for some reason they come in contact with this virus, they’re young enough their bodies can fight it off,” Banks said. “But these kids have grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles that they go back home to … keeping them in groups, if something does happen and this breaks out you know you have it contained but then they go home.”

Banks continued by saying that the board wants the students to be able to practice and be able to begin conditioning.

“We have plans in place,” said Board Member Jeff Byrd. “I think the CDC guidelines were put in place when the North Carolina High School Association put these plans together … I think all coaches have come up with a plan that you said you had looked at and approved. I don’t think they’re going out there all willy-nilly and trying to get kids on the field.”

The board voted unanimously to allow conditioning to begin but if anything does come up the board will call for an emergency meeting to decide if conditioning should be suspended.

There was also a motion to have parents sign a waiver that acknowledges the risk and if a student does end up with the virus the district is not responsible.

Katelin Gandee can be reached at kgandee@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com.