Future of spring sports season will be considered Monday by WPIAL board

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, March 13, 2020 | 6:11 PM

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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.”

The WPIAL could let schools opt-in or opt-out of competition.

“All those things will be discussed Monday as to how we can best suit the needs of those who want to play and not penalize those who choose not to,” Scheuneman said.

As of 5 p.m. Friday, there were 41 presumptive positive or confirmed cases of covid-19 in Pennsylvania, according to the Pa. Department of Health, including the first reported case on the western side of the state.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.