High school and youth sports organizations continue to follow the same path as professional and college sports in limiting not only public events during the coronavirus pandemic, but practices and other gatherings needed to prepare teams.
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association closed its offices Monday and issued a statement discouraging high school athletic teams from gathering on their own for “captains’ practices” and “informal workouts.”
Little League Baseball issued a statement on the same day, emphasizing that “this is much bigger than Little League.” It is suggesting all leagues wait until May before beginning activities.
Formal spring sports high school practices were halted March 13 when Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all state schools to be closed for two weeks.
The school shutdown, intended to control the potential spread of the coronavirus, included stopping gatherings at schools for sports and other extracurricular activities.
Some schools closed their facilities entirely, but with many spring sports being conducted outside, use of fields was not as tightly controlled and athletes at some schools around the state have also gathered at non-school locations.
As some of the remaining 98 contending Pennsylvania basketball teams and the spring sports teams hoping for their season to eventually start sought out creative ways to get ready, there were cases of teams still gathering without coaches or school endorsement.
The PIAA announcement Monday indicates that such practices should stop as part of adherence to the state’s shutdown to deal with the pandemic.
In its Monday statement, the PIAA said it has been informed that some schools sports teams may be organizing captains’ practices or informal workouts offsite.
“It’s our position that this is contrary to the Governor’s order and these activities are not permitted,” the PIAA statement read.
The PIAA’s statement came earlier in the day Monday than the order to shut down all non-essential businesses statewide. Even before that order, the PIAA’s position was that the practices were not in the spirit of statewide containment attempts.
“It is very clear of the intentions of our state government, so please assist them in preventing inappropriate off-site practices or workouts,” the statement read.
The PIAA’s release explained the meaning of Pennsylvania closing of all schools for 10 business days, which began Monday.
“This means all school activities, including sports practices, plays, musicals, mock trail, field trips, etc.,” according to the statement. “The intent of this is to limit people gathering together to minimize the potential spread of the coronavirus.”
The PIAA interrupted winter sports championships March 12, suspending the state basketball tournament between the second round and quarterfinals. The Old Forge girls are one of eight teams left in Class 2A.
The state swimming championships, already underway at Bucknell University, were halted before the start of Class 2A competition. The adjustments included the shortening of the Class 3A meet, using what would have been a qualifying round in some events to determine final place finishes.
As those highly attended events were put on hold, preparations for spring sports continued with preseason practices allowed for one more day before the closing of all schools essentially brought an end to them.
Continued developments since Monday have seemed to create the likelihood of the remaining winter sports championships ultimately being canceled and the entire spring seasons also being in jeopardy. College national championships and many entire conferences have already been canceled for the spring with more conferences making that determination during the week.
Citing the most recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Little League International Board of Directors and staff strongly advised all its local Little League programs to suspend or delay their Little League seasons through no earlier than may 11.
A statement posted on the Little League website included: “The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic is rapidly changing the way that we, as global citizens, think, act, gather, learn and live our daily lives. And, yes, that also means how we play Little League. … We implore you to follow this recommendation and suspend all Little League activities through no earlier than May 11.”
Local league play usually takes place primarily in April and May before all-star teams are formed for the start of tournament season, which progresses teams toward the Little League Baseball World Series in Williamsport and other similar events for different age groups and softball.
Little League International plans to continue monitoring the situation and advising its 6,500 leagues across more than 80 countries.
The statement also included: “Currently, Little League International is working through all possible scenarios for the 2020 Little League International Tournament and tournament eligibility for our leagues and players in our various divisions of play.”
