Central League calls reverse on Fall sports
Pending approval from individual school boards, the Central League has a plan to play fall sports in 2020.
After postponing sports on the basis of health and safety recommendations from Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and the Chester and Montgomery County Health Departments, the Central League announced Monday its intentions to play truncated fall sports campaign.
The return of fall sports was influenced by the Chester County Health Department’s revised language for interscholastic athletics, The health department no longer recommends the cancellation of sports until Jan. 1, 2021; instead, the guidelines were changed to reflect the guidance of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) which allowed the start of fall sports in August.
The Central League had been one of several leagues from the area to postpone sports, along with the ChesMont, Del Val, Philadelphia Catholic and Inter-Academic. The Ches-Mont and Del Val are exploring options to return to fall sports.
“Last week, the Central League Athletic Directors and Administration worked collaboratively to create a systematic and phased approach that allows for a staggered return to competitive sports for the Fall 2020 season. Pre-season practices will begin September 29th,” the league said in a statement.
The executive summary released by Central League administration noted the league is “requesting that districts ... cease their postponement of the fall sports season and begin interscholastic competitions, utilizing their approved health and safety plans, as presented by the PDE (Pennsylvania Department of Education) and Pa. Health Department.”
The Central League will play a conference schedule only and not participate in the PIAA postseason.
“In lieu of competing in PIAA playoff events, the Central League will construct culminating events for all sports to enrich the experience for our student-athletes,” the statement said.
“Culminating events” may include league playoffs for certain sports. Sources told the Daily Times that athletic directors will meet in the coming days to discuss a schedule that works for everybody.
The Central League’s purpose in scheduling a fall season is to allow student-athletes to play as many inleague games as possible, and the league said it will petition the PIAA to allow them to compete beyond the typical season dates where applicable by sports. The Central League will follow spectator guidelines as presented by the PIAA.
“Everyone’s excited to officially have a plan with dates and some insurances that we are moving forward with a five-week plan,” Ridley football coach Dave Wood said. “Now, things can change, anything can change weekto-week, but to see the dates are in place, to see the plan and putting out the practice schedules. Everything is a go and that’s good news.”
The league’s plan is contingent on school board approval, so it remains possible that not every school in the
12-member league will opt in to fall sports.
The first practice date for golf, girls tennis, field hockey, boys and girls soccer, volleyball and cross country is Tuesday, Sept. 29. The first regular season competition date for golf is Friday, Oct. 1.
On Tuesday, Sept. 29, football teams will be required to hold a week of heat acclimatization, which includes no contact/tackling drills. The following three weeks, beginning Monday, Oct. 5, will be normal practice weeks for football. Football teams will have as many as two scrimmage dates prior to the regular season opener Friday, Oct. 23.
While subject to change, the final competition dates for all sports are as follows: Oct.
26 (golf), Oct. 31 (girls tennis), Nov. 7 (cross country), Nov. 21 (field hockey, soccer, volleyball) and Nov. 28 (football and cheerleading).
“I’m hoping we get two scrimmages because it’s been a long time with these kids not being able to do things,” Wood said. “We’re young again, we’re going to have five brand new offensive linemen and a new quarterback, so I’d much rather get two scrimmages under out belt. The kids are definitely excited, though.”
If no changes are made to the schedule, the football season will consist of six game weeks.
“We’re definitely headed in the right direction, but all 12 schools need school board board approval. So right now we’re just waiting on that and hopefully it goes in favor of the kids because they absolutely deserve the chance to have a season,” Radnor football coach Tom Ryan said. “Talking to my seniors and my captains, they said to me, ‘Coach, we’ll just be happy to play one game.’ If we can (get) five or six games in, or whatever they have in store for us, that would be a huge bonus. I have 45 (players) who came through in the summer, and when summer hit, they asked if they can come three days a week, so we’re just treating it like voluntary practice. They’ve been dedicated the entire time.”