Free State players swarm to the ball during the Baker football camp Thursday, June 14, 2018, at LHS. FSHS participated in a two-day camp with Lawrence High, Bishop Miege and Shawnee Mission South.

The Kansas State High School Activities Association has identified June 1 as the start date for a variety of summer programs, provided coaches follow “all group gathering restrictions and social distancing expectations” outlined by local health officials and school administrators.

The 2020 summer guidelines were announced Wednesday and passed last Friday, when the KSHSAA Board of Directors met to discuss the appropriate plans for hosting summer camps and clinics amid COVID-19-related precautions.

KSHSAA noted that the guidelines “are based upon an anticipated practice start date of Aug. 17 for fall sports,” and that they are subject to change if there’s a delay in the start of the season.

The guidelines also reminded coaches and students that all summer participation remains purely optional.

KSHSAA Executive Director Bill Faflick, in a recent interview with the Journal-World, said the organization was hoping to get as many students as possible competing again while taking precautionary measures to make sure the students are safe. The guidelines said that many of the measures are intended to make sure that students are conditioning safely after being unable to practice in the spring.

“Little by little, you turn the dial as opposed to flipping a switch and going back to normal,” Faflick told the Journal-World.

The new guidelines included a provision stating that individual schools may choose what, when and how often summer programs are available to their students.

The guidelines also included a few conditions for all activities:

• During the first calendar week of a summer activity program for any sport, students will be limited to three hours of physical activity per day.

• During the second week of a summer program, the daily limit on students’ physical activity will increase to five hours.

• No organized competition sanctioned by an outside organization or between students from different schools is allowed during the first two weeks of the summer. Students may begin organized competition under the guidance of their school coaches during the third week of a summer program.

• One-week team camps will also be allowed beginning in the third week and may be held through Aug. 15.

• Traditional fall practices, along with standard KSHSAA handbook restrictions, will resume on Aug. 17.

The overall guidelines also came with special instructions for basketball and football. Basketball coaches may not hold team camps or work with their players between Aug. 3 and Aug. 16; football coaches must include a three-week conditioning session, with a limit on football-specific drills, before allowing any 7-on-7, 5-on-5 or team camp activities.

Football programs also are allowed one team-vs.-team camp, including college contact camps, provided they are hosted by a third party, last no more than two days and are conducted after the 15-day conditioning period.