Virus causes PIAA to postpone championships
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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Players from the Peters Township girls basketball team pose with the PIAA trophy after winning the Class 6A state championship last year.
The dreams of teams perusing state championships were put on hold until March 27 by the PIAA Thursday.
In a four-paragraph release, the PIAA announced its board of directors decided by unanimous decision “to suspend the PIAA basketball and AA boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving championships for minimally a two-week period. The AAA swimming and diving championships at Bucknell University have been truncated with limited spectators and will conclude at the end of (Thursday’s) mid-afternoon diving session. The Board of Directors, in consultation with various health departments, believes this action is in the best interest of our member schools, their student-athletes, sports officials and the general public.”
The PIAA announcement made no mention about the spring sports, which for most get underway Friday with events.
These moves were made in reaction to the corona virus spreading throughout the country. At the end of the two-week period, the situation will be reassessed. Options include resuming the schedule, extending the postponement or canceling the postseason.
PIAA Executive Director, Bob Lombardi said, “The Board of Directors are committed to promoting an environment of healthy athletic competition that is consistent with current health department and the Center for the Disease Control guidelines.”
The PIAA Sports Medicine Committee will be meeting this weekend for further discussion.
Included in the teams affected is the Trinity girls basketball team, which was scheduled to play Gettysburg in the Class 5A quarterfinals Saturday at a site and time that had not yet been determined.
“Everything has been moving so quickly,” said Trinity head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller. “From all the changes that were happening, we thought it was a possibility. There was just a little more than a week left in the season so we thought there was that possibility.”
McConnell-Miller plans to get the players back into the gymnasium as quickly as possible.
“There are a lot of questions and a lot of this is unprecedented,” said McConnell-Miller. “There are probably more questions than answers right now. I think we’ll use this as a time to prepare for our next opponent. But if the time comes and that does not happen, we will have taken advantage of practicing together. … If the season is canceled, that would be disappointing for all of us but understandably know this is the best for everybody.”
If the tournament does continue, the PIAA said modifications will include limiting team and spectator parties, health recertification by authorized medical professionals and changes to game day procedures.
McConnell-Miller said she would be respectful of players who participate in spring sports.
Member schools received a letter from the WPIAL reminding them that they control participation in spring sports and it is up to the schools to decide whether to hold them.
“For now, we are continuing with our spring sports without any restrictions,” said Washington High School athletic director Mike Bosnic. “We will pay close attention to any suggestions from our administration. We’re paying close attention to the news.”
Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic, which was supposed to be held Saturday at Pitt’s Fitzgerald Field House, was postponed with no rescheduled date.
“We had a plan in place for this situation,” said Phil Mary, co-director of the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic. “A lot of factors played into this.”
The event, which flies in the top scholastic wrestlers in the country to compete against local opponents, managed to contact all wrestlers before they made the trip to Pittsburgh.
“We listened to the people from Pitt and we listened to the people from UPMC,” Mary said. “They are way smarter than me when it comes to this.”
Also Thursday, NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors canceled the Division I men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships. This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities.
The California University women’s basketball team was supposed to open the Division II tournament at Gannon today.
“This has been a fluctuating type of event that has been changing minute by minute,” said Cal athletic director Karen Hjerpe. “The presidents of the PSAC are meeting (today) on call to discuss the conference and make a decision among all the schools. I am sure that it will be something to what we’ve heard but we’re not privy to that information.”