PIHL in holding pattern
By MICHAEL LOVE
Trib Total Media
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League hopes to begin its 2020-21 season in early October, but league officials and teams are waiting for clarity on certain issues before going full speed ahead.
While many of the programs have been working out both on and off the ice in hopes for a season, PIHL commissioner John Mucha said the league is waiting to hear what the PIAA has to say about its fall sports moving forward as scheduled or possibly postponing until after Jan. 1.
The PIAA board of directors will meet next Friday to determine how to proceed.
“(PIHL hockey) is a club sport primarily and not affiliated with the PIAA, but we do work closely with the school districts,” Mucha said. “We don’t want to put ourselves in any situation of having issues with the sponsor schools. We will follow their guidelines.”
On Aug. 6, Gov. Tom Wolf strongly recommended delaying all youth sports until Jan. 1 over COVID-19 concerns. The PIAA hopes to reach an agreement with Wolf to keep fall seasons in place.
“We’ve stressed to all of our programs and teams to follow the guidelines set by the CDC, the state government and the state department of health,” Mucha said. “Also, each school district has a plan posted on its website for workouts, and we want to make sure the teams are following those, too.”
Mucha said the league has been in contact with rink owners about the situation as it tries to keep as many people in the loop as possible.
Earlier this summer, the PIHL revealed varsity alignments with division breakdowns, and it normally releases the regular-season schedule in late August.
Mucha said the league, keeping the participating ice rinks and their overall schedules in mind, will wait to release any schedules until after next Friday.
“Again, we are going to wait until there is more guidance as far as the season is concerned,” Mucha said. “We would have a schedule that is flexible if the need to make changes should arise.”
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