For now at least, fall sports will be played in Pennsylvania this year. 

The PIAA board of directors passed a motion Friday to delay the start of the fall sports season two weeks, while the organization tries to negotiate a plan with Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration that would see high school athletics played in some capacity this year. 

“PIAA is asking the Governor, along with the Departments of Health and Education, to partner with us and work collaboratively to further discuss fall sports,” read a statement issued shortly after Friday’s vote. “We are also seeking insight and discussion from the Pennsylvania General Assembly.” 

The PIAA’s Friday decision was forced after Wolf announced during his Thursday morning press conference about COVID-19 testing that youth sports should be paused until the new year.

Under this motion, heat acclimation can begin on Aug. 24, but school districts can decide if their schools can continue offseason workouts until that time. The PIAA board of directors will meet again on Aug. 21.

“The guidance from us, the recommendation is that we don’t do any sports until Jan. 1,” Wolf said.

Those comments from Wolf blindsided the PIAA, which had been waiting for guidance about if spectators could attend interscholastic athletic events this fall and had no plans to shut down the fall sports season.

On Thursday afternoon, the PIAA went into an emergency board of directors meeting at 2:30 p.m. and later announced the organization would meet again Friday afternoon to make an official statement after Wolf’s recommendation.

“Today, Gov. Wolf issued a statement of strongly recommending no interscholastic and recreational sports until Jan. 1,” the unsigned PIAA release said. “We are tremendously disappointed in this decision. Our member schools have worked diligently to develop health and safety plans to allow students the safe return to interscholastic athletics.”

While the PIAA — which voted to move forward with fall sports last week — met to discuss the state of school sports on Thursday afternoon, Wolf, the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Pennsylvania Department of Education jointly announced a “strong recommendation” that no youth sports be played prior to Jan. 1. In the announcement, school and non-school sports were advised to stop, but pro and college sports could continue.

Republicans in the state Legislature, who have long criticized Wolf’s handling of the coronavirus, demanded Thursday that the governor provide justification for his surprise comment. Rep. Seth Grove, R-Dover Township, filed Right to Know requests seeking documents that supported Wolf’s pronouncement, which Grove labeled ‘haphazard’ in a media release.

Wolf’s recommendation Thursday morning came just an hour after members of the York-Adams League voted to delay the fall sports season until mid-September, following the decision of other leagues in the area.

Later Thursday, Y-A League Executive Director Chuck Abbott said in an email that Wolf’s comments would not change the league’s plan to have a fall sports season. That answer came before the PIAA went into an emergency meeting.

Official football practices would begin Sept. 4, with heat acclimation starting  Aug. 31, under the league’s new schedule, and the first games would be on Sept. 18. No scrimmages are allowed under the decision.

Golf would begin on Sept. 7; tennis would begin on Sept. 9; and all other sports would begin on Sept. 24. All contests for the fall will be league-only games. The schedules for fall sports will be released at a later time, league officials said.

Friday’s PIAA motion would not alter the Y-A League’s schedule, with local teams. set to begin practices on Aug. 31.

On Wednesday, the Lancaster-Lebanon League voted 19-6 to push back the start date of most fall sports.

Earlier this week, the Harrisburg-based Mid-Penn Conference announced it was delaying the start of fall sports practices to Sept. 4.

Reach Rob Rose at rrose@yorkdispatch.com.

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