Kadena players hit the blocking sleds on the second day of practice Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. The Panthers are the reigning DODEA-Japan champions and won the last Far East Division I title game four years ago. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

The school year doesn’t start until Monday. But hundreds of DODEA athletes are already getting ready for the fall sports season.

Teams could officially start practicing last week in both the Pacific and European theaters. Some schedules are still in flux, but athletes are practicing in football, volleyball, cross country, tennis and golf.

Pacific

A gridiron heavyweight battle between the teams that played for the last Far East Division I title will signal the start of the 2023 DODEA-Pacific football season.

Practices were officially allowed to begin on Aug. 7; however, due to Typhoon Khanun, some coaches were delayed returning to Okinawa and elsewhere — delaying the start of practice in some sports.

Kadena, the reigning DODEA-Japan champion and winner of the last Far East D-I championship game four seasons ago, visits Humphreys, with kickoff at 6 p.m. Sept. 1.

“The potential is there,” coach Sergio Mendoza said of his Panthers. “If we can tap into that brotherhood, we’ll be OK.”

Nile C. Kinnick visits Kubasaki the same evening, with a 6 p.m. kickoff at Kubasaki’s Mike Petty Stadium.

Thanks to the coronavirus, those four teams are aiming for slots in the first D-I final since 2019. It’s set for Oct. 28 at the site of the team with the best regular-season record.

The Division II season also opens Sept. 1, with Daegu — fielding a football team for the first time since 2019 — visiting Osan. Zama visits Matthew C. Perry, while Robert D. Edgren travels to Yokota.

Those six teams also are vying for spots in their Far East final, to played at the site of the team with the best regular-season record.

On the volleyball and tennis courts, Japan begins its season first, on Aug. 25-26, with Kinnick visiting E.J. King, Edgren at Zama and Perry at Yokota. Kinnick hosts Edgren and King entertains Perry in cross country on Aug. 26.

Korea is next, starting Aug. 30. In D-I volleyball, Osan visits Seoul Foreign and Humphreys hosts Chadwick International, while on the tennis courts, Red Division’s Humphreys hosts Yongsan International-Seoul.

Okinawa’s cross country season begins Sept. 8 at Kadena. In golf, Kubasaki and Kadena tee off at Taiyo Golf Club on Sept. 7. And on Sept. 12, Kubasaki travels to Kadena for tennis and the Panthers visit the Dragons in volleyball.

Europe

One sport enters the school year with a major change.

Division I football no longer is split into two divisions. Instead, the six schools will play each other once during the regular season for five games, beginning Sept. 8, and all teams will make the playoffs, which begin Oct. 14. The third seed will host the sixth seed, while the fourth seed will host the fifth seed.

The top two seeds will get byes into the semifinals on Oct. 21. The winners of the semifinals will meet Oct. 28 at Kaiserslautern High School.

In Division II, meanwhile, the four squads are playing a home and away game against each opponent for six games. The top two in the standings will advance to the Oct. 21 title matchup.

Division III football also will go with the top two in the standings advancing to the championship on Oct. 28, although because the tier has twice as many schools, the regular season will end Oct. 21 after seven regular-season games.

Golf begins the week of Sept. 5. Schools will play 18 holes at their home courses to determine traveling teams. Competition will begin the week of Sept. 11, and the season ends the earliest with the European championships at Ramstein Woodlawn Golf Course on Oct. 12-13.

Jamborees will kick off the volleyball schedule on Sept. 1 as teams will get a chance to scrimmage before the Sept. 9 regular-season start. The campaign will culminate with the girls European championships on Oct. 26-28 in the Kaiserslautern Military Community, while the boys tournament will be held the same weekend elsewhere.

Tennis begins its season Sept. 9 and ends with the European championships at Wiesbaden on Oct. 19-21, and cross country runners step to the starting line on Sept. 9 and cross the finish line Oct. 21 in Baumholder.