Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media
High school football action between Fairfield Prep and Notre Dame of West Haven in Fairfield, Conn., on Friday Nov. 8, 2019.
The Southern Connecticut Conference is moving forward with plans to start a 7 on 7 football league some time in October.
League commissioner Al Carbone said Hamden athletic director and football coach Tom Dyer and Hand athletic director Craig Semple will put together a proposal for league principals to review, hopefully by Monday. The plan was determined after a virtual league meeting Thursday night.
“Based off the initial feedback, most of them (league principals) wanted to see a proposal,” Carbone said. “The kids are the ones who want to do this. A couple of the coaches raised that point tonight that, ‘We are doing what our kids want us to do.’ That’s a great point.”
Carbone said every league football school joined Thursday’s meeting, including the New Haven schools, Fairfield Prep, Bassick and Harding. The New Haven and Bridgeport schools canceled the 11 on 11 season on Aug. 14 because football was deemed a high-risk, contact sport during the coronavirus pandemic. Fairfield Prep was placed in the FCIAC for soccer because of its proximity to those schools and the necessity to have all remaining fall sports teams play teams in its own region.
The state Department of Public Health had determined that 7-on-7 football could be played this fall, considering it a moderate risk, whereas 11-on-11 full contact was considered high risk.
“The (SCC) coaches were not in a hurry (to get the season started). They want to make sure this is the right way to go about it. Do we start next weekend or the weekend after?” Carbone said. “This is a voluntary league. It’s something for our football players to get some kind of experience in the fall.”
