By Neil Geoghegan
In what was probably one of the most anticipated announcements in Pennsylvania high school sports history, the state’s governing body voted Wednesday in favor of moving forward with plans to play sports this fall season.
In the throes of a global pandemic, and with heat acclimatization set to begin in less than two weeks, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Board of Directors voted 29-3 in favor of ‘Return to Competition’ guidelines, outlined in a two dozen-plus page plan.
“We’ve really been working at this because we feel it is vitally important to give our students every opportunity to be student-athletes,” said PIAA Executive Director Robert Lombardi. “We are advocates for them. Educational-based athletics are vital to growth, health and development of student-athletes and their ultimate success.
“There are a lot of what-ifs. But the biggest what-if is this: what if we don’t try? If we don’t try to get something out of the (fall) season for students, I think we are failing them. We need to do our darnedest to help them become successful.”