Texas high school football strength and conditioning programs could begin in June

Video: Dematrius Davis highlights

Two Texas high school sports governing bodies on Tuesday announced they would roll out football strength and conditioning programs in early June.

The move comes one day after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott reintroduced most professional and youth sports back as part of a plan to reopen his state amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to numerous reports, the University Interscholastic League, the organization that leads all state public schools, sent an email to its members stating it intends to start limited summer conditioning on June 8. 

The UIL later Tuesday morning sent a tweet that read in part that it "Is actively working with appropriate state officials to allow schools to begin limited summer strength and conditioning and marching band activities on June 8. Once finalized, details will be released to schools."

The Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) announced it will host a football webinar that would start summer conditioning on June 1.

In both cases, teams must adhere to social distancing requirements and groups would be limited in size and scope.

Coaches throughout the state see this as a positive with scheduled first practice dates of Aug. 3 and season openers of Aug. 29 approaching.

All 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., canceled spring sports due to the pandemic. Some basketball championships were completed during the winter, the rest canceled along with the McDonald's All-American Game and GIECO Nationals.

Once the spring season was canceled, high school officials and followers turned their attention to the 2020-21 sports calendar, starting in the fall with football. Many of the questions and concerns around football's return deal with safety, which is tied to proper conditioning and weight training during the spring and summer.

On May 8, Indiana was the first state to announce that school-sponsored activities were scheduled to resume, though not until July 1. Last week, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association announced its summer workouts would begin June 8.

Also on Tuesday, the National Federation of State High School Associations released a large document giving advice to states throughout the country on reopening athletics.