PIAA Cancels All Remaining Winter and Spring Sports and Championships.

The PIAA has cancelled all remaining Winter and Spring sports and championships the body announced on Thursday afternoon. The news comes largely in conjunction with Governor Tom Wolf’s announcement Thursday morning that Pennsylvania schools will be closed to in‐person learning for the remainder of the school year.

“Today’s decision by the PIAA Board of Directors was difficult for everyone. Their thoughts remain on the thousands of student-athletes, coaches, officials and family members affected by this decision,” said PIAA Executive Director Dr. Robert A. Lombardi. “However, the Board’s position reflects a steadfast priority of keeping our student-athletes, officials and member schools’ staffs and their communities safe, while following the guidelines provided by the Governor, the Department of Health and the Department of Education.”

‘We had maintained hope for a continuation of our Winter Championships and an abbreviated Spring season to help bring a sense of normalcy to our communities,” continued Lombardi. “As we navigate through this difficult time we need to remember the lessons that interscholastic athletics has taught us: cooperation, patience, sacrifice, responsibility, respect and perseverance.” At present, 17 other state high school associations have ended their sports seasons in similar fashion.

In addition to the entire spring sports season initially being postponed, the remaining winter championships for basketball and class 2A swimming were also postponed in March as schools and the PIAA held out hope they might be able to resume.

State College Area School District Athletic Director Chris Weakland said on Thursday that while he understood the decision and that it was not unexpected, it’s also a difficult moment for student-athletes.

‘Obviously it’s a sad moment for a lot of these kids, families and coaches and even the officials who put so much work into preparing for the season,’ Weakland said. ‘It’s unfortunate, but I totally understand it and appreciate everything the PIAA did to try to preserve some kind of an experience for our kids and families.’

State College coaches meet remotely every week, and coaches have met remotely with their teams multiple times since the start of the postponement, Weakland said.

‘I think everybody kind of saw it coming because the other states around us have been working in that direction,’ he said. ‘It would be hard-pressed for Pennsylvania to be any different than Virginia and Ohio.’

Weakland and assistant AD Loren Crispell sent a video message to student-athletes earlier today and noted how especially difficult the cancelation would be for seniors.

‘We talked about the firsts and lasts that we’re missing out on,’ he said. ‘Our seniors especially are missing out on that opening day, that first game for their senior year, as well as their last game for their senior year. All those unique experiences that are built up through multiple years of preparation and finally it’s your stage as a senior and it’s not there.

‘This experience in many regards has brought many of them closer — to their coaches and each other. But I feel really saddened for our seniors and their families missing out on some of those landmark and very impactful things they won’t be able to have.’

The PIAA Board of Directors will meet in the coming months to address any concerns that arise from the membership from the COVID-19 pandemic. While PIAA remains hopeful that summer activities will be able to commence July 1 it is still an issue to be taken up at a later date.

Weakland said his staff and coaches will stay connected with their teams.

‘You have to put it in perspective,’ he said. ‘But athletics provides such a tremendous outlet for the physical well-being of our kids but also the mental and emotional well-being. We want to make sure we stay connected with everybody to make sure they’re working through this OK.’

– StateCollege.com editor Geoff Rushton contributed to this story.