LAGRANGE – Football is back.

With a new season less than a month away, the Callaway Cavaliers, LaGrange Grangers and Troup Tigers will be on the field today for the official first day of preseason practice according to the Georgia High School Association calendar.

Teams in Georgia will have one week of conditioning before they can hold their first full-contact practice on Aug. 1, one week from today.

All three local teams are preparing for the start of the regular season on Aug. 19, and they will each play preseason games before then.

LaGrange will play two preseason games, one of which is coming up in less than two weeks.

LaGrange will host Heard County on Aug. 5, and it will play its second preseason game on Aug. 11 at Newnan.

Callaway, as has been the case for the past several years, will be in Hogansville for its preseason game, and it will play Northside on Aug. 12.

Troup will also play a preseason game on Aug. 12 at Harris County.

The regular season kicks off on Aug. 19, with Callaway and LaGrange facing off at Callaway Stadium, and Troup beginning its second season under head coach Tanner Glisson with a game at Hardaway.

As teams begin preseason practice, they’ll have to follow the guidelines put in place by the GHSA.

There are heat regulations, with teams forced to practice without pads or even move indoors if the temperature reaches a certain level.

Teams are also faced with restrictions on full-contract practices during the preseason.

Teams aren’t allowed to hold more than two consecutive full-contact practices in the preseason, and they’re limited to no more than 135 minutes of full contact each week.

Also preparing for the upcoming seasons are the Lafayette Christian School Cougars, who will be looking to defend their eight-man state championship in the Georgia Independent Christian Athletic Association.

The LaGrange College Panthers, meanwhile, will begin their preseason practice in August, and they’ll open the season on Sept. 3 at Birmingham Southern.

Preseason practice for the other high-school fall sports will get under way next week.

Official practice for softball, cross country, cheerleading and volleyball will begin on Aug. 1.

Reach Kevin Eckleberry at (706) 884-7311 or on Twitter @lagrangesports