New Orleans still ‘in Phase Two,’ meaning prep football still on hold

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Thursday that the state will move into Phase Three of its COVID-19 recovery plan on Friday. That announcement came barely 24 hours after the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s executive committee approved a plan to begin full-contact practice in football and play games beginning Oct. 1.

But the City of New Orleans remains in a holding pattern, waiting for more information.

“The City of New Orleans is in Phase Two,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell said Thursday afternoon at a news conference announcing that Orleans Parish public schools would re-open for kindergarten through fourth grades on Monday.

In Phase Two guidance, contact sports such as football are not allowed to compete or practice.

Many questions were directed at sports. One was straightforward: Can high schools play football? “Phase Two,” Cantrell said emphatically.

NORD Commission CEO Larry Barabino “will be leading a task force on high school football,” Cantrell said. She said the task force would look at what is allowed for public schools, private schools and recreational sports over the next several weeks.

“We have reached out to (the) LHSAA,” said Dr. Jennifer Avegno, head of the New Orleans Health Department. “It’s really hard to make a decision if you don’t know the health and safety guidelines.”

A decision won’t come “until we see how the LHSAA has a plan to keep children and coaches safe,” Dr. Avegno said. Additionally, the city has not received specifics of what will be in Gov. Edwards’ new order on Friday.

Officials said Sunday’s Saints-Buccaneers game in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, which will be played without fans in attendance, is not affected because the Saints have applied for an exemption based on their jobs as professional football players. Cantrell seemed not to realize that Tulane University, which is not only in New Orleans but is one of the city’s largest private employers, has been practicing football for a month and will play at home a week from Saturday.