PIAA Executive Director Dr. Robert A. Lombardi testified before the Pennsylvania Athletic Oversight Committee this morning and signaled that the PIAA is ready to go forward with fall sports on Friday despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lombardi made his remarks to the committee while Pa. Health Department Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said during a briefing that the state has no plans to turn Gov. Tom Wolf’s “strong recommendation” that youth and high school sports not be played in the state until at least Jan. 2021 into a mandate or order if the PIAA, and local school districts, decide to play this fall.
Lombardi emphasized “strict adherence” to school plans and the governor’s guidelines “should provide a reasonably safe environment” to begin fall sports.
Lombardi said that the PIAA “would like to move forward with the starting of fall sports” based on data that has come in through prescreening in the state compiled by member schools during the voluntary workouts.
Lombardi pointed out that Wolf’s staff had provided “no specific medical or research reason that would suggest participation in interscholastic sports inherently increases that risk.” He then added the Department of Health, when pressed by the media, also did not appear to have any data to support the recommendation.
“For that reason, we believe that because of the important benefits that can be derived from participation in interscholastic athletics, we believe that it is at least based on the information currently known to us and the advice we are being provided from many of our schools and medical advisers, it is worth at least attempting to pursue a fall sports program,” Lombardi said.
The PIAA Board of Governors will meet this Friday, Aug. 21, to decide whether or not the fall sports should start formal practices next week.
Melissa Mertz, the executive associate director of the PIAA, said in a radio interview Monday that the PIAA is optimistic that high school sports will start up this fall.
“We feel fairly confident that we can get school sports up and running,” Mertz said.
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