Last week, Schuylkill League member schools voted 14-4 to continue with Fall high school sports on schedule.
That would mean today should have started heat acclimatization practices for the 2020 high school football season.
However, the PIAA derailed that plan when its Board of Directors took emergency action on Friday to delay any mandated activity for the Fall sports season for 2 weeks. That means, at the earliest, the heat acclimatization practices for high school football start on Aug. 24 instead of the 10th.
Schuylkill League Vote to Start Fall High School Sports On Time
Since that Schuylkill League vote last Thursday, the #LetUsPlay hashtag has popped up on social media. Student-athletes, their parents, and schools have been pushing to get Fall sports started on time.
With Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf now recommending that all sports – except professional and college – hold off on any competitions until Jan. 1, 2021, and the PIAA’s decision to hold off on starting the Fall high school sports season, everyone who wants to get the season started as soon as possible are worried their seasons are about to be cancelled.
Based on the vote of the Schuylkill League schools last week, it seems nearly everyone wants to get the season going, too.
However, there are those 4 Schuylkill League schools which voted against starting the Fall season on time.
Who are they? Schuylkill League President Dr. Steve Toth tells The Canary those schools voting against starting the season on time are:
- Tri-Valley
- Panther Valley
- Jim Thorpe
- Pottsville
Tri-Valley has already committed to starting the 2020-2021 school term with a hybrid learning schedule. That means students will spend some of their week at school getting in-person instruction while the rest of the time in school will be from home taking class online.
Pottsville Area hasn’t officially voted on a similar schedule for the start of the academic year, but at a Town Hall event held online last week, school officials indicated that’s the way they’re planning to start the school year.
So, it’s likely that’s why each of those schools voted against starting the Fall sports season on time.
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