Uniontown reinstates football, soccer seasons after initially canceling fall contact sports

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, August 28, 2020 | 2:45 PM

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Football and soccer seasons were reinstated Friday at Uniontown.

Three weeks after the school board voted to cancel contact sports, the school’s athletic department announced that all fall sports seasons will take place. The football team hasn’t trained together since mid-June, coach Cedric Lloyd said, but could resume workouts as soon as this weekend.

“I’m excited for the kids,” Lloyd said. “I’m excited to get an opportunity to work with them this year.”

However, the football and soccer teams must rebuild their own independent schedules, WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman said. Some of Uniontown’s original opponents found alternate matchups after the school canceled the seasons. Teams that didn’t find a new opponent are available to play Uniontown.

“We were informed by Uniontown that they were canceling their sports and therefore the schedules were dropped,” Scheuneman said. “Those schools were then able to go and fill those contests with other schools.

“Now, upon Uniontown’s request to reenter, we will allow them to be a part of (WPIAL competition), but find an independent schedule and not be included back in the section schedules.”

The school made its decision to delay Aug. 3 after Gov. Tom Wolf suggested schools that start online shouldn’t play sports. Wolf later said all schools should postpone interscholastic sports until at least January, a recommendation the PIAA later ignored.

Lloyd said he wasn’t certain what led the school to reverse course.

Uniontown athletic director D.J. Burns referred questions to the school’s administration. Superintendent Charles Machesky didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The decision comes two days after Pittsburgh Public Schools made a similar reversal. PPS had announced its intention to postpone all fall sports, but its school board decided Wednesday to move forward now.

Lloyd said he didn’t expect Uniontown to play any football games before Sept. 25. Under PIAA rules, a team must complete five days of heat acclimatization and 10 additional practices before starting the regular season.

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.

Tags: Uniontown