The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Board of Directors voted in a 25-5 decision Friday to allow fall high school sports to begin their seasons this coming Monday, August 24th. The decision comes in direct opposition to PA Governor Tom Wolf’s recent recommendation that PA postpone all youth sports, including high school and club sports, until January 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. While the decision goes against Gov. Wolf’s recommendation, the Governor had said recently that although his recommendation is to postpone sports, schools are free to do what they want. The decision effectively leaves it up to the individual school districts in the state whether they opt to participate in the fall season or not.
PIAA fall sports include water polo, girls volleyball, girls tennis, field hockey, golf, football, soccer, and cross country, all of which will be able to begin practice on Monday the 24th. Competitions will be allowed to begin soon thereafter, with most sports allowed to begin competitions on September 11th.
PIAA Fall Sports Update: pic.twitter.com/RqD73jRTTG
— PIAA (@PIAASports) August 21, 2020
Swimming and Diving is a winter sport for PIAA, meaning this decision doesn’t directly effect swimming. However, with PIAA defying the Governor’s recommendation to postpone sports for the rest of the year, it looks more likely that PIAA swimming and diving will begin on time this year.
PIAA’s decision to move forward with sports comes as new Coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania have remained largely steady over the past month. The state has averaged around 800 new cases a day during that time.
High school sports updates are coming quickly, so be sure to check out SwimSwam’s State-by-State High School Sports Index for Coronavirus Adjustments.
Ha ha wolfman hack!!! Pa has had enough of this.