PIAA Goes Against Wolf, Votes Yes On 2020 Fall HS Sports Season

PENNSYLVANIA, PA — After months of indecision and in direct defiance of guidance from state health officials, the PIAA Board of Directors voted in favor of allowing a high school sports season to take place this fall. It will officially begin next Monday, Aug. 24.

The decision on whether or not to compete will be up to the individual school districts. The motion passed the Board by a vote of 25 to 5.

The PIAA stated last week that they were confident in the health guidelines and protocols they had already developed, and urged Gov. Wolf to reconsider his administration's recently amended position that no sports take place until 2021 in the state.

"The PIAA Board of Directors has heard the thousands of voices of student-athletes, parents, coaches, officials as well as community leaders that have contacted us," they said in a statement Friday afternoon. "We remind those individuals who have strongly advocated for athletics that they must keep strict adherence to school health and safety plans. All individuals involved in interscholastic athletic communities have a role in the health and wellness of all participants."

The decision applies to all fall sports. The issue of spectators at events was not addressed. PIAA officials have in the past expressed a desire to allow more than 250 people, which is the maximum crowd allowed at an outdoor gathering under state guidelines.

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The first practice date for the fall season will be Aug. 24 for all sports. Scrimmages for all sports may begin on Aug. 29, except football, which begins Sept. 5.

Water polo, football, soccer, field hockey, volleyball, and cross country can have their first competitions on Sept. 11. Tennis can start Aug. 27.

The Board also passed a motion that they "may pursue alternate solutions as needed" based on the course of the virus and the progress of the season.

MORE: PIAA Set To Make Final Decision On 2020 Fall Sports

Districts must now report to the state what schools will participate in the fall, and full revised schedules and postseason formats will be announced then.

The decision comes a day after a rally of hundreds at the state capitol in Harrisburg in support of the fall season, and the same week as legislation passed through a state house committee which would effectively guarantee the same thing the PIAA ruled: local control at the school district level.

Many schools statewide had already determined they would not participate in the fall season regardless of what was decided at the state level, but other districts had postponed making a final call until they received guidance from their conference or the PIAA.