Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf released guidelines for the return of sports from high school to the pros on Wednesday.
The bottom line to the regulations is that if a Pennsylvania county is in its “Green or Yellow Phase,” summer workouts can begin with high school sports programs adhering to rules that will be established by their own individual school districts. The rules should be in alignment with the Preliminary Guidance for Phased Reopening of Pre-K to 12 Schools and the CDC Considerations for Youth Sports.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
— Matt Walters (@CoachWalters81) June 10, 2020
Purple Pit, East Stroudsburg, PA—The following statement was released today by the 2020 Cavaliers, through their personal attorney, in response to questions about their future career plans:
“We’re back.”
What about counties in the “Red Phase?” According to the Governor’s Office:
No sports (professional, collegiate, Pre-K to 12, recreational or amateur) are allowed in counties designated as being in the Red phase.
From governor.pa.gov
The next big question is whether there can be fans in the stands?
Each individual game or practice at a complex must adhere to the gathering occupancy limits (25 in yellow, 250 in green), and the facility as a whole may not exceed 50% of total occupancy otherwise permitted by law.
From governor.pa.gov
Below is how the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association interprets the governor’s guidelines via a news release that was put-out this afternoon:
From the PIAA
Today, the Governor’s Office and PA Department of Education (PDE) issued Preliminary School Sports’ Guidance for schools. This information will allow each school to resume voluntary sports’ related activities and to develop their own Athletics, Health and Safety Plan. This plan is
to be approved by the school’s governing board and posted upon the school’s website.
“Allowing voluntary activities to commence at PIAA member schools as early as the approval by the local board is a significant move to allow students to be students, said PIAA Executive Director, Dr. Robert A. Lombardi. “We are very appreciative and supportive of the Governor’s
staff and PDE for allowing our input and having discussion of opening schools for voluntary workouts and activities”.
The approval of the Athletics, Health and Safety Plan by the school governing body and posting of the plan to the schools’ website allows schools to begin out-of-season activities and replaces the July 1st stipulation previously adopted by the PIAA Board.
The guidance stipulates each school in Yellow and Green phase counties is to have a RTP plan in place to ensure that all sport teams and organizations conduct their operations in the manner best designed to prevent or mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the safety of the athletes and the communities they serve. Any sporting activities in Yellow or Green phased
counties must adhere to the gathering limitations set forth by the Governor’s Plan for Phased Reopening (maximum of 25 people in the Yellow phase; no more than 250 people or 50 percent of the facility’s total occupancy, whichever is less, in the Green Phase.)
As has been recommended by the PIAA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC), schools should tailor re-start guidelines to fit a school’s local needs, as opposed to a reliance on a “one size fits all” approach.
