Local ADs scramble to adjust sports schedules

By Jose Negron

jnegron@yourmvi.com

During the three-week shutdown of winter high school sports, Bill Cleary joined other area athletic directors in playing the waiting game. 

He didn’t know if the pause in play, mandated in order to help stop the spread of COVID-19, would extend past Jan. 4 and cause even more havoc on the winter calendar. 

But when Gov. Tom Wolf announced the shutdown would not continue, athletic directors near and far were back to work, attempting to reschedule games and put athletes in a position to compete as often as possible. 

Cleary, who serves as both Serra Catholic’s AD and girls basketball coach, has worked to reschedule games for both the boys and girls basketball teams, which returned to practice Monday. The girls team was on the court for the first time in five weeks after being shut down previously due to COVID-19 protocols. 

Both teams are expected to start their winter seasons Monday. 

“It’s been busy, but at least on my end, it hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be,” Cleary said. “Us ADs are pretty good at communicating with each other. We send a lot of emails and work on dates to see what works for both sides. We’ve had to move some exhibition games because we have to get section games in at certain times, but all in all it hasn’t been bad.” 

With the WPIAL’s open playoff tournament scheduled to begin Feb. 27, teams have until Feb. 26 to play regular season games. 

That’s helped make the job of local ADs a bit easier, too. 

“That’s created a whole new bunch of vacancies on the calendar. It gives us a lot more flexibility, so I’m thankful for that,” Cleary said. “If we were under the old guidelines where we had to be done by this day or that day, we would be like a baseball team making up all those rainouts. We were able to go deep into February to make up games.” 

Elizabeth Forward Athletic Director Tim Guffey has spent the week sitting in front of his computer constantly emailing schools, officials, contest workers and the district’s transportation company in order to prepare for the start of the season for basketball, swimming and diving, and wrestling.

Guffey said the biggest challenge he has faced is the temptation to try to cram too many games in. 

“Yes, you want to get as many contests in as possible, especially if we get shut down later because of a spike in cases,” Guffey said. “However, we have to think about the athletes. I let my coaches have some input as to where to try to reschedule contests to. It’s been very hectic for all of the sports programs. Everyone is hoping for the best and wishing for us to get the season in.” 

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