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The PIAA Board of Directors will meet Tuesday afternoon and likely vote on reducing the number of practices required before winter sports teams can hold a competition.
PIAA rules state teams are required to have 15 practices before either playing a basketball game, holding a wrestling match or having a swim meet. A scrimmage against another opponent is also considered a practice.
However, several schools throughout the state including many in the Wyoming Valley Conference didn’t start practice on Nov. 20, the first official date of winter practice. A few WVC schools were set to start play on Dec. 11 before Gov. Tom Wolf shut down scholastic and youth sports because of an increased number of COVID-19 cases. On the other hand, Crestwood hasn’t held any winter sports practices.
The governor’s suspension of winter sports is set to end Jan. 4.
Under the PIAA proposal, teams which haven’t practiced yet would need 10 practices before playing. Teams with one practice so far would need nine. Those with eight would need two more, those with seven would need three more, those with five would need five more and those with six or more practices already completed would need four.
Even if a team has already had the required 15 practices, it wouldn’t be able to hold a competition on Jan. 4. The PIAA board voted earlier this month that any team which has its practices interrupted for over 14 consecutive days would need to have four practices before competing.
The District 2 athletic committee, which is the local extension of the PIAA, was set to hold a meeting on Dec. 14, but it was cancelled. It hasn’t been rescheduled.