Section III Athletics announces Interscholastic Athletics Plan for Fall 2020

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Section III Athletics Announces
Interscholastic Athletics Plan for Fall 2020

September 11, 2020 05:15 p.m.

Press Release from Section III Athletics:

Section III Athletics Announces Interscholastic Athletics Plan for Fall 2020

East Syracuse, NY – Section III Athletics of the New York State Public High

School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) announced today that fall sports will

proceed as anticipated based on guidance from NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo,

New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and NYSPHSAA officials.

Practices may begin for low and moderate risk fall sports on September 21, 2020

and higher risk fall sports may begin March 1, 2021. The decision was rendered

by the Executive Committee early this morning. The committee’s decision is a

result of reviewing feedback provided by member schools.

“We’ve received feedback this week from the majority of our 104 member

schools. More specifically, 97 schools responded with 58% indicating they are

ready to begin fall sports, and 42% requesting a delay of fall sports until after

January 1, 2021,” said John Rathbun, Section III Executive Director. “We

understand the challenges many schools face and the difficult decisions

superintendents, principals, and athletic administrators are being required to

make to keep student-athletes, spectators, and sport officials safe. We continue

to stay committed to providing support to our member schools and the student-

athletes we serve.”

The plan, approved today by the Section III Executive Committee, emphasizes no

fall sectional tournament competition. The following groups contributed to the

development of the plan: Section III Executive Director & staff, Section III

representative of the NYSPHSAA COVID-19 Task Force, League Presidents and

Athletic Administrators, Sport Coordinators & Sport Committees, and Chief

School Officer (CSO) committee members. The following guiding principles

grounded the decision-making process:

Ensure the health and safety of all student-athletes
Re-engage all student-athletes as soon as possible for their social,
emotional and mental well-being
Maximize participation across all sports and all student-athletes
Keep competition as local as possible for as long as possible
Maintain the ability to pivot to back-up plans when deemed necessary
The fall of 2020 season there will be no sectional or NYSPHSAA regional or
state completions (Fall Season I and Fall Season II)

“We understand and recognize the issues of equity and access this decision will

create for schools and leagues within our section,” said Joseph DeBarbieri,

Section III President. For a variety of legitimate and logistical reasons, some

school districts may opt out of our fall sports season. In those cases, we respect

the individual district decision.”

The Section III Executive Committee and Executive Director will continue to

monitor additional guidance from the New York State Governor’s Office, New

York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), New York State Education

Department (NYSED), and New York State Public High School Athletic

Association (NYSPHSAA) as circumstances change.