PIAA gives its green light to fall high school sports — for now

Pennsylvania high school sports are a go this fall, but fans are not allowed to attend games and a team must shut down for 14 days if an athlete tests positive for COVID-19.

Those are some of the things the PIAA declared Wednesday during a meeting of the organization’s board of directors. The PIAA decided fall sports will start as scheduled, despite the

COVID-19 pandemic. The PIAA also said the only thing that will stop the sports seasons will be a mandate from Gov. Tom Wolf.

But while the PIAA has decided to go forth with sports, the league put guidelines and protocols in place that must be followed by schools. Two of those protocols deal with no spectators at games and the shutdown of a team for two weeks if an athlete tests positive. PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said both of those protocols come from recommendations from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Department of Education, the Governor’s office and CDC.

The PIAA did not rule on a shortened season for fall sports, but Lombardi said that is still a possibility. The PIAA board of directors decided to meet again Aug. 26 and the league could decide to shorten seasons then. Under a plan for shortened seasons, all sports would conclude by Thanksgiving. All sports would still have PIAA playoffs, but the 12 districts around the state, including the WPIAL, would have to shorten their

playoffs and possibly regular seasons.

The WPIAL board of directors plans to meet Thursday to come up with a playoff format for this season, but that format could be thrown out if the PIAA decides to shorten seasons.

The PIAA’s decision to go forward with sports comes after some college conferences have decided to cancel fall sports or move them to the spring. But Pennsylvania certainly is not alone in wanting to start fall high school sports on time. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, more than half the states in the country plan to start on time. Five states have decided to move football to the spring, while 23 states have decided to delay the start of sports.

“People are saying, ‘Hey, what if this and what if this?’ ” Lombardi said. “But the biggest what if is this: What if we don’t try? If we don’t try to get something out of the season for students, I think we’re failing them and we need to do our darndest to help them become successful.”

The start of heat acclimatization practices for football teams in Pennsylvania is Aug.

10. Official football practice for football teams and most other fall sports is Aug. 17. The first night of football games is Aug.

28.

Lombardi said the PIAA came up with the guidelines and protocols after correspondence with various organizations, including the department of health and the Governor’s office.

The guidelines and protocols are general and sport-specific, and are in a 25-page document that was sent to schools and also is available on the PIAA website. Lombardi said he hopes the “no spectator” protocol will change because youth sports and non-high school sports around the state don’t have to follow the same guidelines. The Governor’s office permits youth sports to have spectators, with a limit of 250 outdoors. Different rules for high school teams and youth teams is hard to figure for many, and even Lombardi seemed a little miffed at it.

“We’re trying to get this off the ground to the best interest of our students,” Lombardi said. “[At the Aug. 26th meeting], we will basically review and take a look at the first 2½ weeks of practice and see how things are shaking out. If things are going well, we will continue down the road.”

Some other notable things that came out of the board meeting Wednesday:

• The board of directors voted, 29-3, to approve the protocols and guidelines for schools.

• Some schools in Pennsylvania are considering starting the school year virtually, without students in the building. Others are considering a “hybrid” system, where students would be in the building only a few days a week. Considering that, the PIAA voted to allow schools to start sports in September or even October if they choose. Teams will be permitted to play games past the normal regular season deadline if they aren’t in the postseason.

• A school can opt out of playing a regular season contest in any sport if they have a COVID-19 concern of another school. The school principal must notify the district and the district can rule the contest “no game” and not a forfeit — but only for regular season games.

• Under the PIAA guidelines, athletes are not required to wear face coverings while actively engaged in workouts or competition but must wear face coverings when on the sidelines and anytime six feet of social distancing is not possible.

• No handshakes after contests.

• Benches in football can be extended to the 10-yard lines to encourage social distancing.