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High school sports can resume, with safety plan

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Observer-Reporter

Burgettstown High School football coach Mark Druga watches over a practice session in 2018. The Blue Devils are coming off an undefeated regular season. The PIAA and state government has given high school sports the green light to resume offseason activities and start play in the fall, as soon as schools give their OK.

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Celeste Van Kirk/For the Observer-Reporter

Canon-McMillan football coach Mike Evans says the guidelines given to high schools for COVID-19 controls and protocals remain vague and all WPIAL schools should use the same standards.

Observer-Reporter

The PIAA had some good news Wednesday for athletes and coaches in Pennsylvania. The organization is planning to start high school sports on time in the fall.

That came on the heels of Gov. Tom Wolf and the Pennsylvania Department of Education releasing guidelines Wednesday for restarting high school, college, professional and amateur sports in Pennsylvania.

The one caveat is that before any workouts, practices or games can happen at the high school level, each school district is required to come up with a detailed return-to-play plan that must be approved by the school board and posted to the district’s website. The plan must follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The guidelines from the Wolf administration are in effect for all school sports teams and were accepted by the PIAA.

When a return-to-play plan is approved by the school district, teams can begin voluntary offseason workouts and activities. The PIAA had imposed a policy of no workouts until July 1, but that mandate has been erased by Wednesday’s announcements.

“My phone has been ringing off the hook since the PIAA announcement,” said Burgettstown head football coach Mark Druga. “To get the green light to start the season is very exciting. We still need a great deal of guidance from the school districts, but there is a glimmer of hope. It’s very exciting.”

In theory, falls sports teams can hold workouts today if their school board has approved a return-to-play plan. In reality, it will take most schools several days to reach that point.

“I had been talking to people at some other schools to see what their plans might include,” Druga said. “We have a meeting (today) to talk about what protocols we’re going to use. We hope to have a plan approved ASAP so we can be out there sometime next week.”

Schools aren’t required to submit their plans to the PIAA or the department of health for approval.

“I’ve talked to our superintendent and business manager about a plan, and it was talked about at the school board meeting Monday because we had heard this was coming,” said Washington athletic director and head football coach Mike Bosnic. “I hope to have a plan in place by the end of the week so we can start working out next week.”

The Wolf administration guidelines do not specify how many athletes and coaches will be permitted in workout groups and if the restrictions differ for contact and noncontact sports. The PIAA stated in a release schools should make their restart guidelines fit a school’s local needs and size, as opposed to a “one size fits all” approach.

The National Federation of State High Schools released in May its recommendations for opening high school athletics and activities and used a three-phase system.

“The problem for us is everything is so vague. It’s hard to go ahead and practice if you don’t know what the guidelines are,” Canon-McMillan football coach Mike Evans said. “One of the things for schools in our area is to get on the same page and do the same things. It’s not fair is one school is doing this while another is doing that. We can have 60 different versions of what we should be doing.”

Evans said Canon-McMillan had started writing a return-to-play plan.

“I feel like we we’re on top of it,” he said. “I hope we can be out on the field maybe next week.”

“I think normal is never going to happen again but we are closer to getting the kids active and that’s what this season is about,” said Peters Township athletic director Brian Geyer. “It will be different than last year. It has to be. That’s fine because the point is to keep employees, athletes and community safe.”

Geyer noted that the guidelines and proposals are for the summer and up to Aug. 16. Once a season starts with practice Aug. 17, there will be revisions.

The Wolf administration also set guidelines for pro sports, which state teams in counties designated in the green phase of reopening are permitted to practice or play on site with fewer than 250 people, provided they follow orders issued by the Secretary of Health and recommendations issued by the CDC and other health or athletics-based organizations. Teams that want to play or practice with more than 250 people on site must submit a plan for DOH approval. Currently, the administration discourages fans at a venue.

Recreational and amateur sports teams are permitted to conduct activities, including games and practices, in green-phase counties.

Staff writer Eleanor Bailey contributed to this story.

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