Sights From the First Weekend of Texas High School Football
As a result of the pandemic, the way our society views sporting events has changed in a major way. Fans attending sporting events haven't been widespread across the country despite sports returning in some form. However, there were some high school activities over the weekend in Texas with fans allowed back in games.
High school football kicked off in the Lone Star State over the weekend for Class 4A and below. Class 6A and 5A will start their seasons in the first week of October, per the UIL guidelines that came in place over the summer.
No El Paso area school kicked off their season but hundreds of smaller schools were in action throughout Texas.
To no surprise, things were completely different at the games. Fans were scattered across at some stadiums, ensuring social distancing among attendees, while other stadiums featured jammed groups, no social distancing and optional mask usage. Granted, some of these games are kicking off in counties with little to no COVID-19 outbreaks. They are playing football in different areas than El Paso, which has almost 3,000 active cases in the city.
Nonetheless, it was dissimilar than the normal Friday night lights. Coin tosses took place with a single captain per team instead of several members. Band members scattered in chairs and in the stands to ensure social distancing methods. It was about 50-50 when it came to mask usage, based on the photos shared across social media. Again, it seems like it depends on where the games are taking place.
Here are some of the sights from the opening weekend of Texas high school football: