PIAA moves forward with plan for high school sports to happen, as scheduled

While neighboring states are cancelling high school sports, today, leaders with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) have confirmed they are moving forward with plans to play in the fall.

The motto says it all.

Protect yourself; protect others; protect the season.

By following the guidelines of their sports medicine committee, they believe this can work.

No fans, as well as strict quarantines for an outbreak, are part of the plan to get the season in.

"If we don't try to get something out of the season for students, I think we're failing them," Dr. Bob Lombardi, executive director of the PIAA, said.

By a vote of 30-2, the PIAA board of directors voted to accept the guidelines of the sports medicine committee, and keep the fall schedule in place.

That means for football heat acclimatization starts August 10.

Practice for all other sports will start a week later, on August 17.

The first week of games is scheduled for the week of August 28.

The plan comes with some controversy.

No fans will be allowed, unless the guidelines are changed. That means parents can't come to their kids' games.

One positive COVID-19 test from a player means the entire team will be quarantined for 14 days.

If a team can't play, it won't necessarily count as a forfeit.

Among the questions asked today was how high school sports can attempt to safely play this year, when many colleges have decided it's too dangerous.

"When they play contests, they travel across numerous state lines, maybe even across the country, to compete," Lombardi said. "Our kids are sequestered, basically, by going home to mom and dad, or grandma and grandpop, or a guardian every night."

"It's the fact that there is a definite answer, that the kids know that we're going to get started, and I think they'll be excited for it," Joe Headen, head football coach at Susquehanna Township High School, said. "As a coach, you have to change your mindset, get the equipment ready, and all the little things that go into a season, but we'll be ready to go."

There are some alternative schedules for schools that are re-opening later in the fall.

Of course, as we've learned, anything can change based on what happens with the virus.

For now, however, we can still expect high school sports in Pennsylvania, this fall.