• Column: If fall sports get the OK, questions will linger.
School officials plead for clarity
If high school sports are played this fall in Pennsylvania — which seems likely — many questions still exist, and issues have to be resolved in the WPIAL, most notably the gathering limit in Allegheny County.
In July, Gov. Tom Wolf and the Pennsylvania Department of Health issued a gathering limit of 250 people outdoors and 25 indoors because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Allegheny County imposed its own gathering limit of only 50 individuals outside.
If the outside gathering limit isn’t raised in Allegheny County, high school football can’t be played. Even WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman acknowledges that. It would even be difficult for soccer to be played under the 50person limit. And what about a girls volleyball match indoors with a 25-person limit?
The WPIAL has schools from nine other counties besides Allegheny. As the PIAA board of directors prepares to meet Friday to decide on the fate of fall sports, Scheuneman said the Allegheny County gathering limit has created questions and some confusion. Indications are the PIAA will vote to conduct fall sports. The WPIAL is part of the PIAA and the WPIAL board of directors will follow with a meeting Monday.
“We need some clarity [on the Allegheny County gathering limit],” Scheuneman said. “We’ve received conflicting information and we’re in the process of clarifying what is allowed and what is not. Some people in the health department have told schools that they’re allowed 250. But some superintendents were on a call and were told only 50.”
Even if the outdoor gathering limit is raised to 250 in Allegheny County, schools will have to make some tough decisions on the number of fans allowed. In July, the PIAA said spectators would not be permitted at games, but the PIAA said that guideline was a recommendation from Wolf’s office. PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said earlier this week that the PIAA has asked Wolf to allow fans at sporting events.
Other questions and issues still have to be addressed if fall
sports are played. Here are a few:
• What will happen if a student-athlete tests positive for COVID-19? “Currently, there is not a standard in-season rule for everyone,” Scheuneman said. Last month, the PIAA recommended schools follow the CDC’s guidelines for return-to-play, which suggest a team shuts down for 14 days if an athlete tests positive. But schools around Pennsylvania have their own guidelines and protocols, and they might differ from the CDC’s.
This summer, some schools, including a few in the WPIAL, shut down a sports team for 14 days if an athlete tested positive. But others have only quarantined the athlete and those who had close contacts with the athlete.
Thomas Jefferson’s Bill Cherpak, Mt. Lebanon’s Bob Palko and Washington’s Mike Bosnic are among the many WPIAL coaches who believe football season would be hard to pull off if a team has to shut down for two weeks because one player tested positive. Teams are only scheduled for seven games now because the season has been shortened.
“Is there going to be a protocol for everybody? Because it’s inevitable that players are going to test positive,” Cherpak said. “If one kid in a school tests positive, are you going to shut down the whole school? If teams have to shut down for two weeks, I don’t see how football can work. What if we’re supposed to play three teams that had to shut down and we end up playing only four games?”
Added Scheuneman: “We’re going to wait until we know more about everything [after Friday’s PIAA meeting]. We hope to provide some flexibility to schools so it’s not something they can’t abide by.”
• What about spectators? Even if fans are allowed at games, if the gathering limit remains at 250, schools will have to decide just how many fans will be permitted to attend. Many schools in larger classifications are talking about dressing maybe only 3540 players.
Eight athletic directors in the Class 2A Midwestern Conference met recently to discuss many issues, including the 250-person limit. Beaver Falls is one of the Midwestern Conference teams.
“We’ve been to playoff games where you have to give the WPIAL your essential personnel,” Beaver Falls athletic director Jim Carbone said. “At the conference meeting, we came up with anywhere from 125 to 160 people who are essential just to run a football game for our schools if you count both teams, the coaching staffs and everybody. We even counted some media. Let’s say everyone has 100 spots left over. That doesn’t leave you too much room. So do you let only home parents come? Or just the parents of the senior players? It’s such a tough situation.”
In a girls volleyball match, count the six players on each side, two substitute players, two officials, maybe four total coaches and you’re already at 22, three short of the current gathering limit indoors.
• What about the bands and cheerleaders? If the outdoor gathering limit is 250, do band members and cheerleaders count toward that total? Some larger schools have more than 100 band members. Will schools not let the bands perform? And what about the band and cheerleader parents who want to attend? Good luck to the school that tells band or cheerleader parents that they can’t watch their son or daughter perform, but football player parents are allowed.
• Is it a forfeit? Last month, the PIAA issued a guideline that said if a team decides not to play a regular-season contest because of COVID-19 concerns, it is up to the 12 individual districts around the state to decide if the game can be rescheduled, declared a “no contest” or forfeit. Any team that elects not to play in a postseason contest will be considered a forfeit.
Rescheduling soccer or volleyball games might not be a big issue. But what if a team can’t play a WPIAL conference football game because of a COVID-19 concern? It would be hard to justify rescheduling a football game that might make teams play two games in a week. So what will the WPIAL do about games that aren’t played? Scheuneman said that hasn’t been determined.
• Spring playoffs? It is highly likely the PIAA will vote to have fall sports, but the PIAA will then leave it up to every individual school to decide if it wants to participate. Already, Uniontown and Summit Academy have decided to not play sports in the fall, and other schools could do the same. The Pittsburgh Public Schools might vote next week to postpone all fall sports.
If a group of schools decides to push their fall sports to the spring, would the WPIAL and PIAA have spring playoffs for those schools?
Scheuneman said, “We’d be open to discussing it. We’re certainly not going to commit to anything.”
Suffice it to say the questions about fall sports are many, and the PIAA, WPIAL and schools will have to provide answers in the next few weeks.