PIAA's Associate Executive Director Explains Potential Options For Upcoming High School Sports Season
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association is moving forward with its plans for high school fall sports to take place. They're looking at a few potential options for the upcoming sports season.
The Associate Executive Director of the PIAA, Melissa Mertz joined Eyewitness News Friday to discuss the possible options.
Mertz explained that the PIAA has laid out three possible scenarios for schools, local leagues and PIAA districts to use for the fall season.
One scenario is that they can go with their regular start date, meaning that football could start on Aug. 10. Then the rest of the fall sports would start on Aug 17.
"Usually what that means is contest start for football at the very end of August. And all of the other sports contests would begin in September," Mertz said.
The other option is having an alternative start, that would mean pushing the start dates for practices back to later in August and then later in September once school has a chance to get started. Those contests would not begin until later September.
"Probably for football, that would be Sept. 18 and for the other sports, probably Sept. 14," said Mertz.
The third option that schools, leagues, or districts have is more of a hybrid of the first two options.
"It gives schools the ability to get started with golf, tennis and cross country as normally scheduled. But other sports like football, soccer, girl's volleyball and field hockey aren't going to start until later," Mertz said. "The thing that everybody has to abide by, regardless of what option you use, is that they have to have a three week preseason."
Some school districts, including Philadelphia, have already announced that they will be going with an all virtual learning model for the fall. So how will the PIAA ensure student's safety on the athletic field?
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"We have discussed this thoroughly, not only with our sports medicine advisory committee but also with each of our sports specific series committee. Some of the points we bring forward are other than girl's volleyball, these sports are contested outside," Mertz said. "We already know by the governor's orders that recreation sports were happening outdoors since June."
Mertz went on to say that a school setting would be safer than recreational programs since they have athletic trainers, school administrators and certified coaches that are overseeing the athletes.
She also mentioned that every school has to adopt a health and safety plan that they've had to publicize. That includes taking athlete's temperatures at every practice, screening every player at every practice and prior to contests.
