WPIAL to address spring sports Monday

By CHRIS HARLAN

Trib Total Media

The PIAA already postponed the end of winter sports season, but now spring sports might also be in danger.

Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday ordered all schools closed for two weeks in response to the coronavirus outbreak, meaning baseball, softball, lacrosse, volleyball, tennis and track athletes won’t practice next week and their seasons won’t start March 20, as scheduled. The PIAA hasn’t yet issued any statewide mandate, so the decision whether to compete currently lies with each individual school after buildings reopen.

“Everything is fluid right now,” WPIAL associate executive director Amy Scheuneman said. “We did have conversations with the (PIAA) and they’re in state of flux as well.”

The WPIAL board will discuss how to approach spring sports when it meets Monday for its monthly meeting. At this time, it’s difficult to predict what lies ahead, Scheuneman said.

“It could be a simple ‘sports are canceled,’” said Scheuneman, if schools themselves are uninterested in competing. “It could be that the championships are canceled, play on your own. Or it could be we’re going to try to play the second half of the season. It could be anything right now.

“I’d say all options are on the table until they’re taken off.”

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