After months of consternation and uncertainty brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, high school athletes and coaches across Pennsylvania heard the two words Friday they’ve been longing for: Play ball.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, which governs scholastic sports in the commonwealth, opted to go forward with a fall season by a 25-5 vote of its board of directors.

“Everybody was committed to try (to make this happen),” said Dr. Robert Lombardi, executive director of the PIAA. “We know there’s no guarantees, but we’re at least making the attempt to try. If it doesn’t go well, we have to shut down. We think we owed it to the member schools to try.”

The official start of fall practice can begin as early as Monday.

In Berks, golf, girls tennis and cross country practice can begin Monday; football will begin Aug. 31; soccer, field hockey, girls volleyball and water polo will start Sept. 4. Some leagues across the state will start a week before BCIAA schools; some will start later, depending on league decisions.

It will mark the first time since March 12, when the state basketball tournament and swimming championships were shut down, that PIAA athletics will resume.

The start of fall sports appeared in jeopardy two weeks ago when Gov. Tom Wolf expressed a “strong recommendation” not to play youth sports until Jan. 1.

A day later, the PIAA pushed the start of its season back two weeks and many leagues, such as the BCIAA and Pioneer Athletic Conference, pushed it back even further.

Lombardi and his staff, emboldened by a strong public outpouring, were determined to move forward despite the governor’s objection. They were bolstered by the opinion of the PIAA’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee that a safe return to the field can happen, provided strict guidelines are followed.

Very few instances of COVID-19 have been reported across the state since voluntary team workouts commenced July 1.

Only two Berks schools have reported positive tests this summer: Exeter and Wyomissing. Exeter has had three positive COVID-19 cases since July, including two last week. Wyomissing reported it had one positive case last month.

“The PIAA has been consistent in its approach and has taken the right steps to get to this point,” said Gov. Mifflin athletic director Pat Tulley, a member of the PIAA Board of Directors. “Everybody would like to see kids have opportunities. How it plays out from here … we’ll see. Everyone has put themselves in a position to give kids an opportunity.”

The PIAA opened a window for schools such as Reading High that have already opted out of fall sports by agreeing to allow an alternative plan that could provide an opportunity to play in the spring. Specifics have not been worked out, but some fall athletes left on the sidelines may have a second chance.

“We feel bad for those kids, and we are trying to do our best to possibly give them an opportunity,” said District 3 chairman Doug Bohannon, a member of the PIAA Board of Directors. “Maybe there will be an opportunity for them.”

“As things get better, they might have an opportunity to have a shortened season in the spring,” Lombardi said.

Lombardi expressed concern earlier this week about potential liability issues and asked members of the state legislature for help in that area when he testified before Pennsylvania’s Athletic Oversight Committee. Liability coverage provided for most school districts does not cover extracurricular activities such as sports.

No fans, empty stands

While there may be football and soccer games in a few weeks, parents will not be allowed into stadiums to watch unless the state makes changes.

Currently the state is limiting inside gatherings to 25 and outdoor gatherings to 250. Lombardi said that only game personnel, officials and media members will be allowed into outdoor venues. No fans.

“We continue to advocate to have some spectators there, at least Mom and Dad,” Lombardi said.

He said he’s heard “rumblings” that the state legislature would get involved to increase the limit; he suggested 25% of capacity, similar to that of restaurants.

“I would hope that the (governor’s) administrative staff would sit with us and we can come up with a number that makes sense,” Lombardi said. “Ohio is using 1,500 for football. If we could get 25% of the capacity of a football stadium it would solve most issues. We’ll continue to keep at that.”

While this final hurdle has been cleared much remains unclear, such as plans for the state tournament, how many school districts may choose to opt out before the season begins, or how many may need to suspend sports should COVID-19 outbreaks occur.

“We were hopeful that we could get something off the ground here,” Lombardi said, “but nothing’s given, because you don’t know what’s around the corner. We’re doing our best to be advocates for student-athletes.”

“It’s important to move forward,” Bohannon said. “We could be shut down in three weeks, or we could go all the way. If we don’t try, we’ll never know.”