Battle Over Sports In PA: Protesters Rally Ahead Of PIAA Decision

PENNSYLVANIA — Protesters gathered at the state capitol in Harrisburg on Thursday morning to speak on the importance of fall sports and demand Gov. Wolf's administration reverse course on its recent guidance that no organized sports take place in the state until 2021.

Parents, student-athletes, state leaders, and other supporters joined the demonstration, which was put together by the advocacy group Let Them Play PA. Speakers at the rally said the risks of social isolation were greater than coronavirus, and pushed that the decision to play or not should be left to individual families, and not decided by health officials. See a live stream of the event here.

"Pennsylvanians and Americans are 'can do' people," State Sen. Jake Corman said during the rally.

The rally comes as renewed focus is placed on the PIAA, which plans to make a final decision on high school fall sports at a meeting Friday. Representatives from the PIAA testified before the state senate on a hearing regarding issue Tuesday.

Some leaders even said that fall sports would protect students — particularly, children from disadvantaged backgrounds — from contracting the virus.

"My real concern is for inner city kids, kids who are receiving educational credit, tax credit money, who are going there," State Sen. Mike Regan said, referencing Bishop McDevitt's football program specifically. "They are currently within this bubble of protection, of their coaches, their peers looking out for them. I can't imagine...the health situation if these kids aren't showing up for practice everyday. If they're out in the community, they're gonna sick."

Aside from supporting fall sports, the rally's speakers also targeted the Wolf administration and Dr. Rachel Levine, saying that state leaders had made the virus appear worse than it is in order to serve their own agenda. Chants of "Levine needs to go" overcame the gathering at times.

"The governor has created chaos, and confusion, in order to control people with fear," State Rep. Doug Mastriano said.

The state's organizing agency for high school sports has thus far has pushed back against the state's formal guidance, and has urged state officials to reevaluate their decision to recommend that fall sports be canceled. The PIAA believes the protocols they've put in place are sufficient.

Corman was joined by numerous other Republican state legislators at the rally Thursday, including State Rep. Jesse Topper, State Rep. Mike Reese, State Sen. Mike Regan, and more.

Some attendees wore masks and socially distanced, as event organizers had ordered, and others did not.

Gov. Wolf announced two weeks ago that no organized sports should take place in Pennsylvania until Jan. 2021, shifting his administration's official guidance in the wake of a reported increase in transmission of coronavirus in youth sports leagues over the summer.

While the Wolf administration's guidance is that there should be no fall sports, the state has not explicitly prohibited it. It remains unclear if the PIAA, which previously announced a delay of mandatory practices for the fall season until Sept 7, will abide by Gov. Wolf's recommendation or go ahead without the blessing of the state's top health officials.

As far as individual districts go, many have declined to thus far issue a formal stance on fall sports, with some moving tentatively forward following PIAA's guidance, and others in a holding pattern with their local conferences. Some local conferences, like the Pioneer Athletic Conference, have opted to delay the start of the season, in hopes that this will give school officials more time to make their final decision.

A meeting of the PIAA Board is scheduled for this Friday, Aug. 21.