That opinion is shared by Bishop McCort Catholic senior guard and Mount St. Mary's basketball signee Isabella Hunt.
There is a petition going around asking the PIAA to not cancel the remainder of the sports schedule for the 2019-2020 academic year. That petition was started by Frazier High School senior softball player Emi Curcio.
These feelings are likely shared amongst a number of senior high school athletes across the country because of the chance that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic may end their careers abruptly. The NCAA had to unfortunately make that heart breaking decision to cancel their winter and spring championships this week.
Don't forget everyone else that's a junior or younger who will see one of their seasons ended much faster than anyone would've liked, either.
Right now the Pennsylvania high school sports governing body has declared a two-week suspension of play, which has put the 2020 state basketball championships and the class 2A swimming and diving championships on hold due to COVID-19.
Friday, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf ordered schools across the state to close for at least 10 business days to help stop the spread of the virus.
There is no arguing that as difficult as theses decisions are, the PIAA and the state really had no other choice. The question remains as to how soon we can get back to normal life, and what must the PIAA consider before deciding when to play is feasible once conditions are safe?
Venues available
The PIAA must work with Hershey Entertainment on viable dates if the Giant Center will be able to host the state basketball championships as well as what other facilities can host the remaining second and subsequent rounds of the tournament. The swimming and diving championships face a similar fate at Bucknell.
The Giant Center is home to the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears and chances are that if the PIAA decides to pursue finishing its sports season, it has to deal with what the AHL requires the Hershey Bears to have available to them to complete the season.
They have to consider the number of venues available and the stress being put on those who are willing to host these events. The good news is they won't have to consider the winterization of stadiums like the outdoor fall sports championships have to.
Spring sports
Some schools must have multi-sport athletes in order to be competitive on the field in general, while some athletes play a spring sport by choice.
The window did open for boy's tennis with other sports first games to come within the weeks ahead.
Right now, spring sports championship events start May 12 on the state level with boys tennis and conclude June 12 with the baseball and softball championships.
We also have to consider that the districts themselves have to decide on what days their championships can be held in each sport.
If they do decide to play and decide to push back to the spring championships, they have to also consider that Medlar Field at Lubrano Park which hosts the state baseball championships also is home to the New York-Penn League's State College Spikes, and assuming the season starts on time, they will not have many Fridays and Saturdays available.
Let's use this situation for example: the Spikes season starts on Thursday, June 18 and then are on the road until June 23. Following those days, the only viable week where the team is out of town is between July 13-20 if the PIAA wants to hold the games on Thursday and Friday like they usually do.
Both baseball and softball need at least two days to conduct their championship games.
Graduation/college report days/first day of fall practices for 2020-21
The PIAA does not have flexibility like the NCAA does where it can give athletes back the year that they lost because of this outbreak. Seniors are scheduled to graduate at certain times and for those that have committed to going to college regardless of whether or not they're going to play a sport again, they have mandatory reporting days.
It's possible that because of the outbreak that these reporting days might end up being changed because of the circumstances, but this situation can not be ignored.
You also have to be careful because the longer it takes to finish the winter or spring sports season, the closer we will be for reporting days for fall sports athletes.
Basketball success formula
This will also be the first year where the success formula is applied in basketball as is the case with football. Anyone who finished the last season with 2 points or more under the success formula could be subjected to a review of their transfers this season if they have accumulated 6 points during the 2018-20 enrollment cycle. Not having this done could lead to an inaccurate picture of what teams should be forced to play up because of the rules.
It's not going to be an easy decision for the PIAA Board of Directors, and hopefully they chose to keep things postponed until they can ensure athletes will be safe when games resume.
But remember, there will be a lot of variables that the PIAA will have to consider before they decide to begin competition again, and this decision won't be easy.
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