Fields and courts will be empty this fall following an announcement by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association.

High school sports won’t begin until January under new framework laid out Thursday evening by the association and seasons for all sports it governs will be shortened to six competitive weeks.

Prep sports in Truckee and North Tahoe will start with traditional winter sports like basketball and wrestling. The first practices are set to begin on Jan. 2, with the first contests on Jan. 15. The winter sports season will come to a close on Feb. 20.

High school sports that are played in the fall will begin their first practices on Feb. 20, except for football, which will be allowed to hold practices on Feb. 13. The first games will be played March 5 and will run through April 10.

For sports like soccer and football, competing and holding practices in the Truckee-Tahoe area during the winter months will likely be challenging.

“I think I have enough support in the town to make sure the football field is consistently cleared,” said Josh Ivens, head coach of Truckee’s varsity football team. “As long as the ground is hard enough, we will keep that football field cleared.”

Ivens said the Class 3A Northern League has already begun talks about the format of a six-week season, which may include five league games followed by a matchup in week six of the two teams with the best records from the newly formed divisions in the Northern League.

Spring sports will open practice April 3, and will start competition on April 16. The season will run through May 22.

“The adjustments were reviewed by and have unanimous support of the NIAA Legislative Commission which is made up of the superintendents of each Nevada school district with an NIAA member high school,” said the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association in its release on Thursday. “The NIAA staff consulted closely with northern and southern league/region presidents of each of the classifications in crafting the adjustments.”

The association said no state tournaments are expected to be held for 2020-21 high school sports.