Update: 3 football games postponed after Polk closes schools through Thursday

Three Polk County football games scheduled for Thursday were among the sporting events that have been canceled or postponed this week after the Polk County Public Schools District extended school closures through Thursday in anticipation of fallout from Tropical Storm Idalia.

The schools district around noon on Monday originally closed schools on Tuesday, which forced the cancellation of all after-school activitie including high school sporting events. Later on Monday, the district announced schools would be closed through Thursday.

The three football games affected are Winter Haven at Lake Region, Haines City at Auburndale and Tenoroc at Davenport. The Winter Haven-Lake Region game will be played at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 5. The other two games are expected to be moved to Friday. Tenoroc athletic director Irving Strickland said he'll know for sure on Tuesday if the game will be played Friday or later in the season.

Early Monday afternoon, Polk County athletic director Dan Talbot acknowledged that even if the storm doesn't hit Polk County, the county schools still can be affected by it.

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"We're in different predicament than other people because we're a big shelter county," Talbot said. "If we have to open for shelters, we have to close schools."

If students return to school on Friday, it's likely that Friday night's football cames will be played.

"It really just depends how much rain we get," he said.

Earlier in the day, the FHSAA acknowledged that the storm will cause the cancellations or the rescheduling of events and granted each school authorization to adjust their schedules as necessary.

The FHSAA also provided a few tips to ensure proper communication for the safety between schools and the student-athletes:∎ Create a contact tree for your athletic department.∎ Have student-athletes provide their most up-to-date contact information and an emergency contact.∎ Designate coaches to contact student-athletes on their designated team to check on their safety.