2 Nassau School Districts Cancel Winter Sports Due To Coronavirus

NASSAU COUNTY, NY — Two Nassau County school districts on Wednesday announced they will cancel their winter sports seasons, which were already delayed until January.

The Lawrence and Uniondale school districts said they made the decision because of the dangers of the coronavirus pandemic. The districts are unsure if they will participate in spring sports. In the fall, it was announced all sports seasons will be played in truncated fashion soon after the New Year.

In a letter to families, the Lawrence School District said districts were still waiting on guidance from the state on how to run high-risk winter sports such as basketball and wrestling. That guidance was supposed to come in November, but has been delayed. The only low-risk sport that Lawrence participates in is indoor track.

"Due to the rise in infection rate, the need to limit density, maintain social distance, and close the campuses to outside visitors, indoor track will not be run in January," Superintendent Dr. Ann Pedersen wrote in a letter to families.

According to Newsday, the Uniondale School District made a similar decision.

"We want to see our kids alive and whole in the spring," Jonathan Jefferson, the district's athletic director, told Newsday. "We don’t want chronic heart conditions because they picked up COVID. Do we want to permanently damage a teen for the rest of their life over one year of sports? That’s something you can’t rebound from. We can rebound from missed games but not chronic illness and death."

Earlier this year, Nassau County Section VIII, the governing body of high school sports in the county, postponed the fall sports season to 2021. The plan is to play the fall, winter and spring sports seasons in 2021, with some seasons overlapping.

The condensed seasons would be:

• Winter sports, Jan. 4 - March 13: Girls and boys basketball, girls and boys bowling, gymnastics, girls and boys ice hockey, girls and boys indoor track and field, girls and boys swimming, boys swimming, and possibly wrestling and competitive cheerleading.
• Fall sports, March 1 - May 8: Football, girls and boys cross-country, field hockey, girls and boys soccer, girls swimming, girls and boys volleyball and unified bowling.
• Spring sports, April 5 - June 12: Baseball, softball, girls and boys golf, girls and boys lacrosse, girls and boys tennis, girls and boys outdoor track and field and unified basketball.

The Uniondale and Lawrence school districts are hopeful their students will be able to play in the spring, but want to put their health and safety first.

"The remaining two seasons are to be determined as we move through this fluid situation," Pedersen wrote in her letter. "This is a disappointing and frustrating time for our scholar athletes. It is not a decision made lightly, but is one made with the pandemic objective of health guiding the way."