ONEONTA (WBNG) — The Oneonta Athletics Department has postponed the fall sports season. Fall sports will be played next spring.

Oneonta Athletic Director Jerry Mackey said it was a difficult decision, but at this point they felt it was the only one to make.

Mackey said a lot of factors played into this including busing issues, the referee component, and the current spike in COVID-19 cases in Oneonta. He said the state of the area wasn’t the only reason, but it was the ultimate push.

“It was not an easy decision and we were hoping we could hold off long enough that maybe some other schools would be willing to do it with us or the section or league would kind of go in together,” said Mackey. “I had dialogue with all those AD’s and all those superintendents, but their timing wasn’t the same as ours and they don’t have a current situation in their town like we do.”

Mackey said they will move forward with the three-sport spring season laid out by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association.

“We will advocate as much as possible to get that schedule in place somehow. If we have to make an individual schedule and find people,” said Mackey.

Mackey also said he believes at least one of the other league members will make a similar announcement soon.

Governor Cuomo’s guidance gave permission for all sports to begin practicing on September 21. For now, Mackey said they will not have any school sanctioned practices.

“”We do embrace what Mr. Zayas (NYSPHSAA Executive Director) has said. We do want our kids out there we do want them active we do want them playing stuff but we need to do it safely and for our district for a lot of reasons, we’re not there yet,” said Mackey.