After two weeks of uncertainty, the Upper Adams School District voted to approve fall sports at Biglerville High School  on Tuesday. 

But there will be conditions to the return of athletics at the Adams County school. 

The school board voted to approve Upper Adams Supt. Dr. Wesley Doll’s plan for a “conditional” return to sports by a 7-1 vote with one board member absent Tuesday, meaning the district will decide on a weekly basis whether sports can be played. 

Christopher Fee was the lone board member to vote against returning to play. 

Every school in the YAIAA is now currently approved to play fall sports, with the season set to begin with golf on Sept. 8. Football is scheduled to kickoff Sept. 18 with other sports following on Sept. 24. 

Biglerville’s weekly decision will be based on the incident and positivity rates of COVID-19 in Adams and York counties. Here’s the breakdown:

• If the incident and positivity rates over the past seven days in both Adams County and the opposing team’s home county meet the standard of low level of community transmission, sports can take place. 
• If the incident and positivity rates over the past seven days in either Adams County or the opposing team’s county meet the standard of moderate level of community transmission, the superintendent will determine if the opponent’s Health and Safety plan is as restrictive as Biglerville’s plan. If not, competition will not be allowed. 
• If the incident and positivity rates over the past seven days in either Adams County or the opposing team’s county meet the standard of substantial level of community transmission, sports will not take place. 
• Biglerville is operating on a hybrid schedule for the fall, but if the school has to move to full remote learning due to a COVID-19 outbreak, sports will be canceled. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Education defines a “low” level of community transmission for incident rate as less than 10 cases per 100,000 residents. The moderate level is defined as between 10 and 100 cases per 100,000 residents and substantial is more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents. 

The YAIAA will play a league-only schedule in the regular season, meaning Biglerville would only face an opponent outside of Adams and York counties in the District 3 playoffs. 

Tuesday’s vote came two weeks after the Upper Adams School District school board declined to approve moving ahead with fall sports during its Aug. 18 meeting. One reason board members gave for not voting to approve was a desire to see whether the PIAA would approve fall sports. 

The PIAA voted by a 25-5 margin to move ahead with the fall season on Aug. 21, but left the final decision up to individual school districts.

A number of schools in District 3 (Milton Hershey, Reading, Harrisburg) have decided on their own not to play sports this fall, but every school district in the York-Adams league is currently planning to play. Dallastown nearly voted to cancel fall sports on Aug. 20, but the motion was eventually tabled after a long and passionate debate. 

The issue of whether or not to play high school sports this fall intensified when Gov. Tom Wolf recommended that no scholastic or club sports be played until Jan. 2021 during a press conference on Aug. 6. He clarified a number of times that the recommendation was not a mandate. 

During Upper Adams’ board meeting Tuesday, Biglerville athletic director Anthony Graham expressed confidence in Dr. Doll’s plan and said the school’s teams were meeting the requirements to play sports safely. 

A number of board members expressed some concern with playing sports during the pandemic, but ultimately said the decision should be left up to families in the district. Ron Ebbert said he’d like to see all sports use face shields. James Rutkowski admitted there “just doesn’t seem like a good decision either way.”

But Fee was the only member to vote against the proposal. 

Fee said his main concern was that kids could bring the virus home and get their parents sick, and increase the spread of the virus in the community. He acknowledged that there have been no reported deaths due to COVID-19 for anyone age 19 or younger in Pennsylvania. 

He added that he has discussed the issue with numerous heath care professionals he knows. He also said he thought it was “weak and cowardly” of Gov. Wolf to recommend but not mandate that sports not be played. 

“We have no way of knowing how many young people in our district or on our athletic teams are carriers of COVID,” said Fee, acknowledging the asymptomatic nature of the virus. “I’m a fan of high school sports, and I’ve had to tell my own son he can’t play. He’s none too pleased with me. I risk alienating friends and neighbors and I have no reason to do so other than I wish to protect my community. 

“My position is the risk of COVID is very real and that high school sports will increase that risk in this community, and the chance of a loss of a single life is not worth that risk.”

During the meeting’s public comment period, a number of parents and student-athletes spoke out in support playing high school sports. The athletes spoke about the positive impact sports have had on their lives. Seniors said they didn’t want to miss their final opportunity to play with lifelong friends or potentially lose scholarship opportunities. 

Kate Tuckey and her daughter Bekah, who battled Leukemia for a number of years, both spoke about how important sports were to their family throughout Bekah’s battle with cancer and after her recovery. Bekah is Biglerville student who has wrestled and played field hockey. Her twin brothers, Josh and Eli, were standout wrestlers at the school.

“The ground that I walked on was ripped out from under me … I had no will power to get up, to live the next day and that was terrifying,” Bekah said. “Sports gave me that outlet to do everything. And the same thing, I guarantee you, will happen to these athletes if you take fall sports away. So please take into consideration all the lives that will be changed.” 

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.