The PIAA has reached out to Gov. Tom Wolf via letter, saying if scholastic sports are canceled in the fall, student-athletes will find alternative ways to play during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The letter dated Tuesday from PIAA Executive Director Dr. Robert Lombardi stressed “that sports are going to be played by youth, whether within the PIAA structure or otherwise and that doing so within the educational umbrella may provide the safest means for that to occur.”
Wolf said last Thursday he strongly recommends scholastic and youth sports be suspended until Jan. 1. He later clarified his position by saying it was a recommendation and not a mandate or order. The PIAA decided the next day to push back the official start of fall sports from this past Monday to Aug. 24 to open a dialogue with the Wolf administration. Many schools continue to hold voluntary workouts as they have throughout the summer.
Lombardi mentioned that community and recreational programs have hosted countless activities in all different age groups in sports such as baseball, basketball, field hockey, soccer and volleyball. He added that, to the PIAA’s knowledge, there have been no reported problems with coronavirus breakouts. It also showed parents and families are willing to allow their children to play sports.
Lombardi said that halting interscholastic athletics would not eliminate the COVID-19 risk, but will shift it to “other venues that lack sufficient oversight.”
The PIAA elected to continue on with fall sports after consulting with its Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, which consists of nearly a dozen doctors along with athletic trainers, health professionals and athletic administrators.
The Sports Medicine Advisory Committee and PIAA sports specific steering committees developed guidelines and practices that Lombardi said in his letter to Wolf “go even beyond those that your office has developed.”
Lombardi also argued that, unlike recreational sports, the PIAA has school officials able to make sure local Athletic Health and Safety Planning Guides and Return to Competition Guidelines can be enforced. Lombardi wrote “we believe there remains a viable path to permit students in many schools the opportunity to participate in interscholastic athletes in a controlled, healthy and safe manner.”
The PIAA had each member school develop its own safety guidelines which had to be approved by either the school board or administration. The PIAA did this because Lombardi didn’t want what he called a “one-size-fits-all” approach since facilities and athletic participation differ from school to school.
Wolf’s announcement came at the end of a press conference last Thursday morning and with no follow-up questions, sending the PIAA Board of Directors into an emergency meeting later in the day.
Lombardi said after a board meeting the following day that the PIAA received about 7,500 emails and enough phone call to crash its phone system in support of holding fall sports. A rally in support of fall sports is scheduled for 11 a.m. Aug. 20 at the state capitol building in Harrisburg.
Lombardi’s letter didn’t address Wolf’s stance that there should be no fans at scholastic events.
Most high school leagues throughout the state — including the Wyoming Valley Conference and the Lackawanna Interscholastic Athletic Association — have made plans for fall sports that include changes such as shortening seasons and playing only within their league or area.
About a half-dozen schools in areas with a high number of COVID-19 cases have cancelled fall sports. The Philadelphia Public League, which is in the hardest hit area in the state, has cancelled all fall sports.