Gov. Wolf: State will release covid-19 guidelines for PIAA in ‘next day or two’

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, June 8, 2020 | 2:13 PM

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The wait is almost over.

Covid-19 guidelines for restarting PIAA sports are expected to be released Tuesday or Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf said. The PIAA has banned teams from organizing offseason workouts until those guidelines from the state departments of health and education are put into place.

“We’re dealing with two levels of sports: Intramural sports within the schools and PIAA,” Wolf said during Monday’s press conference. “The guidelines for both should be out within the next day or two.”

It’s still unclear what those guidelines will require before interscholastic sports can resume in Pennsylvania.

Youth sports already have resumed in many counties, but PIAA teams have been prohibited from working out together since Wolf closed school buildings March 13. That shutdown was extended April 9, when Wolf ordered buildings to remain closed for the rest of the school year.

The pandemic forced the PIAA to cancel its basketball tournaments, swimming championships and all spring sports.

The 2019-20 school year ends this month, so July 1 was set as the tentative restart date for PIAA teams.

Rather than wait for July 1, the PIAA board voted last month to let schools in “green” counties resume offseason workouts on a county-by-county basis — if the governor approves — rather than force teams to sit and wait for a common date.

The board was optimistic some schools would resume workouts before July.

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.