August 24 Update

TFA Families,

Thanks for your support as we continue to get our fall sports underway in the weeks ahead. On Thursday evening, I sent you an email with details that some of our Fall Sports are getting started. Today, I am pleased to share with you when the remainder of our fall sports teams are set to begin. Be sure to see the attachment with the full document for your review, but wanted to provide several bullets below.

In addition, we will be hosting a sport-specific parent meeting once teams are formed with our athletic department as well as our coaching staff to give you more details into what the season will look like as we continue to keep safety at the forefront of each of our decisions.

Girls Sideline Cheerleading:

New Student Tryouts (Grades 6-11): Tuesday 9/1 (email Coach Yates by 8/25 if you are interested
First Official Start Date (JV and Varsity): Thursday 9/3 3:00pm – 5:30pm

Girls Volleyball:

Offseason Conditioning (Optional): 8/25, 8/27, 8/28 from 3:30pm – 5:00pm
Official Tryouts (Mandatory): JV and Varsity
Tuesday 9/1 – 3:15pm – 5:30pm
Wednesday 9/2 – 3:15pm – 5:30pm (teams set)
Official Tryouts (Mandatory): Middle School
Thursday 9/3 – 3:15pm – 5:00pm
Friday 9/4 – 3:15pm – 5:00pm (team set)

Boys Varsity Football:

Open to Grades 9th – 12th Only
Offseason Conditioning (Optional): 8/25, 8/26, 8/27, 8/31, 9/1, 9/2, 9/3, 9/7, 9/8, 9/9, 9/10 from 3:15pm – 4:30pm
Official Practice (Mandatory): 9/14 and 9/15 from 3:15pm – 6:00pm and 9/16 and 9/17 from 3:15pm – 5:30pm

Boys 7 on 7 Flag Football:

Open to Grades 6th – 9th Only (multiple teams if numbers allow)
This would replace JV and MS tackle Football for the 2020-2021 school year due to COVID-19 restrictions
First official practice date: Week of September 21st
9th Grade students will have the opportunity to play both 7 on 7 Flag Football and Varsity Football
Email WillCohen@thefirstacademy.org if interested in more information or to sign up

Finally, this afternoon on Social Media, we released the competition dates for Cross Country, Golf, Swimming and Diving, and Girls Volleyball. Football competition dates will be released in the near future once the schedule is finalized. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions you might have!

Click Here for Updated Sport Specific Tryout Information

 

 

In Christ Alone,
Will Cohen
Athletic Director

August 20 Update

TFA Families,

I have been waiting since March for this day to be able to share this information with you. We are excited to welcome back (some) Fall Sports next week. As you know, the safety of our student-athletes has and will continue to be our top priority. Thank you for being flexible and gracious with our staff as we continue to take the next steps forward in the days ahead.

As you will see on the attached document, Swimming and Diving, Cross Country, and Golf will begin next week while the start of Cheerleading, Football, and Girls Volleyball will be delayed. Since these sports are considered “close contact” by our governing body, I felt it was important to continue to stay in a holding pattern for now. I do want to be clear that these sports are incredibly important and equally as valuable as any sport on our campus and that we do have a plan in place (including dates) to begin practice, and ultimately competition, in the near future. As I mentioned earlier, beginning our sports safely and at the right time is something that is very important to our Athletics Staff.

I plan to send out another email either tomorrow afternoon or early next week with more details about Cheerleading, Football, and Girls Volleyball and when you can expect to begin tryouts and official practice for each of those sports. I am excited to get all six of our fall sports underway.

As you may have heard, The First Academy joined 5 area independent schools in the newly formed Citrus League. Next week, The Citrus League will communicate competition start dates for many of our Fall sports teams. As we communicated on social media, our goal is for each varsity team to remain eligible for the FHSAA State Series and all postseason opportunities. Obviously, that will continue to be monitored and evaluated in the days ahead. Be sure to follow @TFA_Athletics and @TheCirtusLeague on Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates. We are excited for the long-lasting partnership The Citrus League will offer for our student-athletes both now and for years to come.

Please remember that in order to tryout or participate on an athletic team, students must be registered on FamilyID and have a current physical on file. To register, click HERE. If you have any questions about the necessary paperwork, please reach out to our Head Athletic Trainer, Trey Tyler at TreyTyler@thefirstacademy.org. As part of our protocols, every student will be required to have their temperature checked daily before any athletics activity. In addition, every student-athlete will be required to fill out a daily COVID-19 Questionnaire before any athletics participation. Thank you for doing your part!

I know there are still many questions to be answered in the days ahead. I will be hosting a virtual parent meeting with each of our teams individually after the teams are set to share more of the vision for the season. As soon as they become available, we will share schedules with you and post to our calendars for you to subscribe.

Finally, see attached for the sport-specific tryout information. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out via email at WillCohen@thefirstacademy.org and I will do my best to answer them in the best way possible. We are incredibly grateful for your investment in TFA Athletics. I look forward to seeing you (in masks) very soon!

Click Here for Sport Specific Tryout Information

In Christ Alone,
Will Cohen
Athletic Director

 

July 21 Update

Since March, our Athletic Department has been working tirelessly to formulate a plan for our teams to begin official fall sports in conjunction with the opening of our school. In June, we began to offer voluntary workouts, which was a great step forward. Many of our student-athletes attended these open gyms or workouts and we got an opportunity to be together safely and in a structured environment.

As you may have heard, last night the Florida High School Athletic Association Board of Directors confirmed that schools may begin fall sports practices on the original date of Monday, July 27th. Throughout the last several weeks, I have been working with a group of outstanding local athletic directors to put together several different options as we work towards facilitating competition for our student-athletes this fall.

After careful consideration and discussion with other local private schools, we have made the decision to push back the tryout/start dates for each of our fall sports teams which includes Sideline Cheerleading, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Swimming and Diving, and Girls Volleyball. As you may have also seen, Orange County Public Schools made the same decision this morning.

However, we will continue our off-season conditioning program as we work towards the start of sports this fall. In the days ahead, our team will be communicating our plan for the fall sports season which will include information on start dates, restructured competition, safety protocols, and any other information you will need.

Please know that our focus is on the safety of our school community and we truly appreciate your patience and continued support of TFA Athletics. I look forward to giving you more information as soon as possible.

As always, if you have any questions at all, feel free to email me at willcohen@thefirstacademy.org.

 

June 24, 2020

If your student plans to participate in athletics this fall, below are some important dates that you will want to add to your calendar. The official start date set by FHSAA for fall sports is July 27th. You can review the dates and times below for the sport your student is interested in participating in. Please take note that several try-outs and start dates take place before the first day of school.

Please remember that in order to try out for an athletic team, students must be registered on FamilyID and have a current physical on file.

https://www.familyid.com/organizations/the-first-academy

This information can also be found on TFA’s website on the Athletics Upper and Middle School pages. If you have questions about FamilyID, please contact Trey Tyler at treytyler@thefirstacademy.org

 

Girls Volleyball

JV & Varsity
Location: Cramer Family Field House
6th – 8th-grade girls who would like to try out for JV or Varsity, please contact Coach Schinzing at amberschinzing@thefirstacademy.org.

Monday through Wednesday, July 27-29th
JV & Varsity tryouts (teams set on 7/29) – 5:00pm – 8:00pm

Thursday, July 30th
JV & Varsity first practice – Time TBD

Friday, July 31st
Practice: Time TBD

 

Middle School (6th – 8th)
Location: Cramer Family Field House

Thursday, August 13th
Middle School Tryout 3:00pm – 5:00pm

Friday, August 14th
Middle School Tryout 3:00pm – 5:00pm (Teams set)

 

Football

Varsity
Location: Payne Stewart Athletic Complex

Monday, July 27th through Saturday, August 1st
8:00am – 11:00am

Coach Kinard will give additional practice information for the week of 8/3. If you have questions about varsity football, contact Coach Kinard at leroykinard@thefirstacademy.org

 

Jr. Varsity 7th – 9th
Location: Payne Stewart Athletic Complex

Monday, August 3rd
9:00am – 10:00am Pass out pads

Tuesday, August 4th
9:00am – 11:00am

Wednesday, August 5th (teacher pre-planning)
3:15pm – 5:30pm

Thursday, August 6th
8:00am – 11:00am

Friday, August 7th (TFA coaches conference)
6:30am – 8:30am

Coach Schultz will give further practice dates and times. If you have questions about JV Football, contact Coach Shultz at steveschultz@thefirstacademy.org

 

6th-Grade Flag Football
Information about flag football for 6th-grade students will be sent out at a later date. Please email Will Cohen if your son is interested in 6th-grade flag football.
willcohen@thefirstacademy.org

 

Golf

Boys and Girls 6th – 12th grade
Location: Falcon’s Fire Country Club, 3200 Seralago Blvd, Kissimmee, FL 34746

Monday, August 10th.
Tee times will start at 8:30am
You must have a tee time to tryout

Our girls’ coach is Chris Bateman, he can be reached for questions at cbatemangolf@embarqmail.com
All tee times will be set up by our boys’ head coach.

Please contact Coach Rosado if you have any questions and to set up a tee time robinrosado@thefirstacademy.org

 

Swimming & Diving

Boys and Girls 6th – 12 grade
Location: TBD
Date: TBA

Because of COVID-19, the YMCA pools in the area have not opened up to the public. We are in the process of trying to secure a pool to get started as soon as possible. If you have any questions about swimming and diving please contact Jane Knuth in the Athletic Office at janeknuth@thefirstacademy.org.

 

Cross Country

Varsity Boys & Girls
Location: TBD
Date: TBA

A Cross Country start date will be sent out in the near future. Students who are interested in cross county in the fall should be training through the summer on their own.