PIAA: Governor Wolf Supports PIAA Sports Shutdown
By: PIAA | PIAA | April 9, 2020
At his daily update on the COVID-19, coronavirus pandemic, yesterday, Wednesday, April 8, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf supported PIAA's shutdown of the winter sports championships. When queried by the media regarding high school athletics, the official press release from the Governor's office is as follows:
Will high school athletes be able to participate in spring sports? President Trump has said that he thinks the National Football League (NFL) and college football should start on time in September. Is that realistic?
Gov. Wolf said with regards to the winter sports season, every sport has "closed down." He asserted that it is too early to tell about football season in the fall. He emphasized the need to stay safe now.
The quote being used by the press regarding Governor Wolf was:
"As for what happens in the winter sports season, unfortunately every sport - professional and nonprofessional sport, amateur sports have closed down, and I think Pennsylvania needs to follow suit on that. We need to stay safe. Again, our first priority is to stay safe."
PIAA is aligned with the Governor's message and other sports organizations having suspended all competition and practices since March 12, 2020. PIAA's number one priority through the coronavirus pandemic is to keep our student athletes and member schools safe. As we continue to navigate through these unprecedented times this will continue to be our top priority.
As there are many questions on whether or not we will play again, this is a question that cannot be answered at this time. As schools across the Commonwealth are shut down indefinitely, this will continue to be the same for athletics. The majority of the state associations across the country are under similar circumstances and many remain suspended as well.
The PIAA will continue to follow the guidance from the Governor's office, the Department of Health and the Department of Education in our future decision making.
