Syracuse, N.Y. — High school sports officials in New York state will take their good news where they can get it, and Friday brought an important thumbs up.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that schools can re-open this fall after the spring closure because of the coronavirus. From an athletics perspective, that opens the door for the return of some type of scholastic competition.

“My glass is half full right now,” said John Rathbun, executive director of Section III athletics.

Topping off that glass of optimism will be a complex challenge.

Just because schools have opened doesn’t mean sports will automatically resume as normal. Each school district has their own specific re-opening plan. The New York State Public High School Athletic Association and local officials will have to wade through and interpret the governor’s exhaustive requirements to see how they impact sports.

For instance, social distancing rules might preclude football but allow for tennis or cross country. Seat spacing regulations might make it too costly for some districts to send several buses full of athletes to and from road games. If physical education classes are reduced or eliminated can field hockey and soccer practices still be held?

The NYSPHSAA has pushed the start of New York’s high school sports season back until at least Sept. 21, but after that it’s possible lower risk sports might get going while others are further delayed.

This list of states that have canceled fall football keeps growing. The number now stands at 13:

• California
• Colorado
• Delaware
• District of Columbia
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Maryland
• Minnesota
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• Oregon
• Virginia
• Washington

If fall sports are canceled, New York has a plan to try and play three seasons worth of sports in the second half of the school year.

Rathbun said he is awaiting further clarification from the governor’s office, NYSPHAA and state education department before moving forward with Section III plans.

“I’m still in the holding pattern,” Rathbun said. “I think the important thing for us right now is staying healthy for our students and our coaches so we can open schools. I think that would be our No. 1 goal right now.”

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Lindsay Kramer is a reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and syracuse.com. Got a comment or idea for a story? He can be reached via email at LKramer@Syracuse.com.