A day after the PIAA decided to move ahead with fall sports as scheduled, one school district in eastern Pennsylvania has decided on its own not to play. 

The Norristown Area School District released a statement Thursday saying it has suspended fall sports and will recommend its school board cancel the fall season for all teams due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

“We recognize the angst this will bring for our student athletes, coaches, and gameday staff, but it is the health and safety of those groups and their families that are paramount to the district,” the statement read. “If we cannot guarantee a safe return to the classroom, we cannot guarantee a safe return to the playing field, course, sidelines, court or locker rooms.”

Norristown also said it “reserves the right” to revisit its decision if the PIAA changes the scheduled season for traditional fall sports. The PIAA has said it does not want to move fall sports to the spring, even though other states have made that decision recently. 

Fall sports in the PIAA are currently scheduled to begin practice on Aug. 17 and competitions on Aug 20. Schools are allowed to begin practices and games at later dates if they choose. 

More: ‘What if we don’t even try?’ PIAA votes to start fall sports on time, though with health measures

More: ‘We’re not messing around:’ How are high schools keeping kids safe as sports workouts begin?

Located in Montgomery County outside of Philadelphia, Norristown will offer totally virtual learning for its students until Jan. 11 of the upcoming school year. The Eagles are a Class 6A athletic program in the Suburban One League. 

The PIAA said Wednesday that schools that go with fully virtual learning options will still be able to compete in sports.

However, some education organizations have expressed uneasiness with students returning to sports if it’s not deemed fully safe to return to classrooms. At the PIAA’s board meeting Wednesday, Pennsylvania Principals Association representative Jonathan Bauer voted against the motion to start fall sports on time, saying there are too many differences between guidelines for the return to school and the return to sports. 

Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine did not endorse the decision to start sports during her press conference this week, and said data being used to determine whether students return to classrooms should also be used in regards to athletics. 

Norristown’s decision to suspend fall sports comes the same day that Wilmington Area School District in Lawrence County closed its campus and postponed all activities due to two staff members experiencing COVD-like symptoms. 

At least 10 schools in District 3 have suspended athletic workouts at some point this summer due to a student-athlete testing positive for COVID-19. 

Matt Allibone is a sports reporter for GameTimePA. He can be reached at 717-881-8221, mallibone@ydr.com or on Twitter at @bad2theallibone. 

Please help us continue to provide this in-depth local sports coverage by subscribing. Here are the current special offers for new subscribers.