PHILADELPHIA – On Monday, the Philadelphia Public League announced the suspension of all sports before January 1, 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The PIAA announcement came on Friday in response to Wolf’s statement during a Thursday press conference when he said, “… we ought to avoid any congregate settings. And that means anything that brings people together is going to help that virus get us and we ought to do everything we can to defeat that virus. So, any time we get together for any reason, that’s a problem because it makes it easier for that virus to spread.”
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health and Department of Education released a statement on Thursday that the Wolf administration strongly recommends, though did not mandate, that school administrators and local school boards should make the decisions on sports.
The PIAA decided to delay the start of the season until August 21. They asked the Governor, along with the Department of Health and Education, to further discuss fall sports.
The Public League released a statement…..
“In accordance with Governor Wolf’s recommendations that were made on August 6th, the Philadelphia Public League will be suspending all interscholastic athletic programming through January 1, 2021. If guidelines released by the Governor’s office change, or are updated in a way that would allow programming to resume, we reserve the right to revisit our decision and provide further guidance on a safe return to play. Our focus in the immediate future will be on developing a robust virtual program this fall to engage our student-athletes in a meaningful way as it pertains to NCAA Eligibility, sport leadership programming, post-secondary readiness, and health and wellness programming, in addition to creating a plan to provide individualized skill building and fitness workouts when permitted to resume safely.
We recognize the important role that interscholastic athletics play both on and off the field, and in the lives of our student-athletes, coaches and our school communities, but it is the health safety of those groups and their families that are paramount to our district. We will continue working with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association in an effort to develop alternative schedules to provide a safe and healthy return to play for all our sports, when recommended to do so by the Governor’s office. The Philadelphia Public League is committed to work to ensure all of our student-athletes have the opportunity to participate in their chosen sport.”
