Due to concerns over the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Georgia, the Walton Tribune and The Covington News have made the decision to cancel their annual East Metro Football Media Day set for later this month. 

“I’m really disappointed to cancel East Metro Media Day this year, but with the way things are going with the coronavirus our staff felt this was the safest call to make,” Tribune sports editor Brett Fowler said. “We will be back next year and will focus on making next year’s event even better.

The East Metro Atlanta Football Media Day is the brainchild of Fowler and former Covington News sports editor Gabriel Stovall, who also served as the executive director of the Georgia Sportswriters Association. The duo wanted to bring exposure to the level of athletes in the east metro Atlanta area. Stovall, though no longer with the News, was still involved in the planning of the event along with Fowler and current News sports editor Mason Wittner. 

"As much as it pained me to agree to the cancelation of this year's East Metro Media Day, I wholeheartedly believe it's the best move for everyone involved," Wittner said. "We, as a committee, were in agreement that the safety of individuals is what's most important at this time. I'm excited for what we'll have in store when we return in 2021."

Last year featured all nine Georgia High School Association affiliated schools from Newton and Walton Counties as well as Loganville Christian Academy which will transition from the Georgia Independent School Association to the GHSA this year. Rockdale County’s three GHSA have also participated in the event.

“I’m extremely pleased with how the event has turned out the past two years,” Fowler said. “We’ve had a great turnout both years and you could tell the coaches and players were excited to be there. I think things ran a lot smoother last year than they did in 2018, which is impressive considering how great the inaugural event was two years ago. We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback on what we could do better and that’s something we want to make sure we took to heart before last year’s event.”