Gov. Gina Raimondo has given the OK for the majority of the state to return to in-school learning on Sept. 14.

So what does that mean for high school athletics this fall? Not much. Right now the Rhode Island Interscholastic League is in a holding pattern on how to advance its fall season, something that needs to be decided as soon as possible.

Raimondo did not address high school sports or other extracurricular activities during her press conference on Monday, so until she says otherwise, the state is looking at cross country and girls tennis as the only sports the RIIL is allowed to hold under Phase 3 guidelines.

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“Today was a good step in the right direction to determine if sports will be played this fall. We’re still waiting on guidance on school sports from the governor and definitive plans from each district as to what schools will look like on Sept. 14,” RIIL assistant executive director Tom Marcello said. “Once we have those two things, we’ll move quickly.”

Currently, the RIIL has no meetings on high school athletics scheduled this week because there’s nothing to meet about. Marcello said the league has plans in place for just about every conceivable scenario.

Until the state announces definite plans, there’s not much to decide on.

“There are things we need to make the best decision. We can’t make and we don’t want to make an early call and leave sports out,” Marcello said. “Right now we’re getting to crunch time, and we can’t put this decision off much longer.”

The league is dealing with a plethora of what-ifs right now.

No. 1 atop that list is what sports will be played and which sports will have to be moved to the second fall season that is planned to take place after the actual winter season.

Soccer, field hockey, girls volleyball and football are all out as of right now. It seems like soccer and field hockey would be the most likely to return, especially with the state’s large youth soccer community pining for games. The argument against girls volleyball comes down to it being an indoor sport, making it higher risk than the others.

Football is not happening in Massachusetts this fall, while Connecticut said it’s “moving forward” with practices intending to play a season but hasn’t committed to actual games yet.

The league has its Four Seasons plan with an extra fall season coming after winter so any sport that isn’t played this fall can be moved there, a good contingency for something that seems almost necessary at this point.

Another issue the RIIL must deal with is how individual districts will handle playing sports.

For starters, Raimondo said Providence and Central Falls school districts will not return to in-school learning on Sept. 14. Will that mean they won’t be allowed to play sports either?

Then there are school districts, like Pawtucket, Warwick and Cumberland, that have already voted to have distance learning. There’s no word on whether or not that means they’ll participate in high school sports.

And to make matters more complex, will districts allow students who opt out of in-school be allowed to play high school sports.

These are complicated questions with no answers currently. Logic would dictate that if the state, school or parent deems it’s not safe to return to school, it’s not safe to participate in high school sports. But with COVID-19, logic hasn’t always worked in solving problems.

On Monday Raimondo said Tuesday’s press conference would focus on testing — another can of worms nobody wants to open when it comes to high school athletics — and there’s been no insight as to when talks about fall sports will occur.

For now, it’s a waiting game — but time is running out.

erueb@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @EricRueb