Sports given OK to resume in Pennsylvania
High school sports are back on in Pennsylvania.
Pre-K to 12 school sports under the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) and the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) have been given the green light to resume by Governor Tom Wolf.
Whether or not teams are allowed to get together is now under the discretion of individual schools and hinges on the school taking the necessary cautions to
“The decision to resume sports-related activities, including conditioning, practices and games, is the discretion of a school entity’s governing body,” a statement on Wolf’s website read. “Each school entity must develop and adopt an Athletics Health and Safety Plan aligning to the PDE Preliminary Guidance for Phased Reopening of Pre-K to 12 Schools prior to conducting sports-related activities with students. The plan must include the provisions of this guidance, be approved by the local governing body of the school entity, and be posted on the school entity’s publicly available website. The plan does not need to be submitted to DOH or PDE for approval.”
“Any sports-related activities in Yellow or Green phased counties must adhere to the gathering limitations set forth by the Governor’s Plan for Phased Reopening (25 in yellow, 250 in green) and the facility as a whole may not exceed 50% of total occupancy otherwise permitted by law,” the statement continued. “During the Yellow and Green phases of reopening, sports-related activities at the PK-12 level are limited to student athletes, coaches, officials, and staff only. The addition of visitors and spectators will be contingent upon future health conditions within the state and local communities.”
Organized sports were not allowed during the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting the PIAA to cancel its winter sports championships and spring sports seasons and temporarily ban in-person activities for all sports.
While sports were originally only supposed to resume during the green phase of the Governor’s Plan for Phased Reopening, they will now be allowed to resume in counties in the green and yellow phases, which currently includes the entire state.
Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties, where the Pioneer Athletic Conference schools reside, are all in the yellow phase.
Professional and college sports are also permitted to take place in counties in the yellow and green phase, while amateur and recreational athletics are only allowed to resume in counties which have been moved to the green phase. More information can be found at https://www. governor.pa.gov/covid-19/sportsguidance/.
Here is the statement the PIAA released in responses to Wolf’s announcement:
“Today, the Governor’s Office and PA Department of Education (PDE) issued Preliminary School Sports’ Guidance for schools. This information will allow each school to resume voluntary sports’ related activities and to develop their own Athletics, Health and Safety Plan. This plan is to be approved by the school’s governing board and posted upon the school’s website.
‘Allowing voluntary activities to commence at PIAA member schools as early as the approval by the local board is a significant move to allow students to be students,’ said PIAA Executive Director, Dr. Robert A. Lombardi. ‘We are very appreciative and supportive of the Governor’sstaff and PDE for allowing our input and having discussion of opening schools for voluntary workouts and activities.’
The approval of the Athletics, Health and Safety Plan by the school governing body and posting of the plan to the schools’ website allows schools to begin out-of-season activities and replaces the July 1st stipulation previously adopted by the PIAA Board.
The guidance stipulates each school in Yellow and Green phase counties is to have a RTP plan in place to ensure that all sport teams and organizations conduct their operations in the manner best designed to prevent or mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the safety of the athletes and the communities they serve. Any sporting activities in Yellow or Green phased counties must adhere to the gathering limitations set forth by the Governor’s Plan for Phased
Reopening (maximum of 25 people in the Yellow phase; no more than 250 people or 50 percent of the facility’s total occupancy, whichever is less, in the Green Phase.)
As has been recommended by the PIAA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC), schools should tailor re-start guidelines to fit a school’s local needs, as opposed to a reliance on a “onesize fits all” approach. If you’d like to review detailed guidelines on developing policies in these areas, please refer to the links below. All activities must still be in accordance with PIAA out-ofseason rules and regulations. PIAA is urging everyone to “play by the rules” to keep students eligible, to promote optimal health conditions and to prevent any setbacks that may jeopardize the starting of fall sports.”