High school sports on the Vineyard are still a question mark for the fall, as school athletic leaders begin tracking an array of guidelines coming down the pike from the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) and a state Covid task force.

The MIAA approved a tentative schedule this week that will allow most fall high school sports to begin Sept. 18. The exceptions are football, cheerleading and unified basketball. If sports do resume, there will be no playoff season.

But many issues remain unsettled.

“The MIAA guidelines just came out but that doesn’t automatically get you to where you need to be,” said Mark McCarthy, athletic director at the regional high school.

The guidelines spell out what is allowed, but now the guidelines head to a state task force that will evaluate them to see what is actually possible given social-distancing limitations for each sport. Ultimately, the decision will rest with individual leagues and high schools on what they can accommodate.

The Vineyard is a member of the Cape and Islands League.

The Covid task force will make its recommendations by August 28, Mr. McCarthy said, and the MIAA board of directors will have a another ruling on those recommendations by Sept. 1.

“And then we as a league will meet on the afternoon of Sept. 1 to take any interpretations or rule changes that are being made or recommended and then make a determination on what we are going to do as a league,” Mr. McCarthy said.

Finally, Mr. McCarthy said, the matter heads to the school committee for approval.

“There are so many additional factors we have to address,” he said. “Like what we do about transportation, about boat travel, what it’s going to look like at the school since the school won’t be open.”

All high school students will be on a remote learning program at least until Nov. 10.

One thing that is not up in the air is the football season, which will not be played this fall, but rather move to a second fall sports season, which runs from Feb. 22 to April 25.

Vineyard football coach Donald Herman said that although winter is not a great time of year to play football he is still hoping for a season.

“For the seniors in particular,” Coach Herman said. “We have a chance to have a pretty good team this year and maybe make some noise.”

The second fall season will also have a ripple effect on winter and spring sports, shifting their seasons to both earlier and later respectively. Winter sports will take place from Nov. 30 to Feb. 21, and spring sports will run from April 26 to July 3.

“We all want it to be done safely,” Mr. McCarthy said. “We have to put the right procedures and protocols in place to make sure if we do play we make sure the kids are safe. That’s what everybody wants.”

“It’s a slow process,” he added. “But it’s something that we are trying to be smart about, and we are trying to make it happen so we don’t have to stop playing once the season begins.”