Mike Ridaught
On Friday, March the 13th, Orange Park Oakleaf Softball Coach Christina Thompson started a grass-roots movement in an effort to appeal to the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) to not cancel high school sports this spring.
Thompson started a hashtag on Twitter called #PressPauseSoWeCanPlay to try and start a movement here in Florida, and she’s hoping to get it out everywhere for those states who still have the chance to have a spring season.
On her OHS Knights Softball Twitter account, Thompson writes:
“We understand the need for prudence and safety. But please don’t cancel the season unless absolutely necessary, with an abundance of information leading to that choice. Suspend indefinitely, or extend through the summer.” #PressPauseSoWeCanPlay
The post received 140 likes, 46 re-tweets, and 115 responses to the thread, which is still active 13 days later.
In another tweet that day, Thompson added:
“All extra curricular events (including softball) cancelled from March 16-31. While we hate to lose any amount of time, we are grateful that our county is choosing to suspend play, and not just jump to cancel for good.”
The FHSAA has indicated that high school sports are cancelled until further notice but they have not officially said that the spring sports seasons are over.
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Trenton #1 in Softball Poll
Defending Class 1A state champion Trenton, winners of 37 in a row, is ranked No. 1 in our first all-classification regional softball rankings of 2020.
The Tigers went 27-0 last year and are 10-0 this season, but right now the 2020 season is in jeopardy because of the Coronavirus. Gainesville is ranked 4th, and Belleview, which is off to its best start in school history at 11-0, is ranked 5th. We rank the top 20 teams across 26 counties online. You can find The Prep Zone Power Poll online at ThePrepZone.com.
Mike Ridaught is the editor and publisher of ThePrepZone.com, the foremost website for high school sports in northeast Florida.