Photo by Erin Nelson. Starnes Media
The Vestavia Hills 2020-21 football team waits on the track at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium as individual and team photos are made on Thursday, July 23, 2020. Photo by Erin Nelson.
Vestavia Hills High School has suspended football practice through Aug. 20, the school announced in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
"Over the past several days, Vestavia Hills High School athletics staff [has] been monitoring several students and coaches in the varsity football program who recently tested positive for COVID-19 or were in close contact with individuals who tested positive," the statement read.
As a result, the football program will not practice again until Aug. 21, the day the season was originally set to begin.
Vestavia Hills also announced the cancellation of the season's first two games, "due to the inability of the team to practice for an extended period." The Rebels' games against Mountain Brook on Aug. 21 and Homewood on Aug. 28 will no longer be played.
The football team will aim to replace one of the two non-region contests with another game Week 5, originally slated to be an open week.
School officials confirmed all other school athletics practices and events are taking place as scheduled.
As of today, Vestavia Hills' first game of the 2020 season will be a Class 7A, Region 3 contest against Hoover on Sept. 4.