WPIAL Winter Sports to Continue as Scheduled

The Western Pennslyvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) decided to continue on with the winter sports season as scheduled following a board of directors meeting on Wednesday.

According to a report from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the WPIAL had an executive session discussing various topics like delaying the start of the season and cutting back on regular-season schedules.

Ultimately, however, the WPIAL Board of Directors opted to leave the winter sports season untouched.

“In the end, the decision was made to allow schools to make the decisions themselves,” WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman said to the Post-Gazette. “If there’s a spike in a community and a school wants to delay starting, that would be up to them. If not, then they go forward and maybe they get some games played in case of the unfortunate event that they have to shut down later.”

The decision from the WPIAL comes roughly a week after the Pennslyvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Board of Directors decided to start the winter sports season as scheduled. Official practices are slated to begin for winter sports on November 20 with competitions beginning December 11, the Post-Gazette reported.

The WPIAL is made up of 10 counties in the state — Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Green, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, and Westmoreland — but is governed by the constitution and by-laws of the PIAA.

Recently, the WPIAL sent out a questionnaire to league schools, asking administrators for their thoughts on winter sports. Scheuneman shared the results of that questionnaire with the board, according to the Post-Gazette.

“Everyone has a different opinion of the situation they’re dealing with,” Scheuneman told the Post-Gazette. “What one person feels, another feels the other way. We did ask people if they are ready to begin (winter sports), and the overwhelming majority said yes, and that they did feel they are adequately prepared.”

To read the full story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the decision from the WPIAL, click here.