Coronavirus News: All fall high school sports postponed in Suffolk County

ByKristin Thorne WABC logo

Friday, September 11, 2020

All fall high school sports postponed in Suffolk County

NJ Burkett reports the governing board for high schools sports in Suffolk County has postponed all sports this fall over concerns of spreading the coronavirus.

LONG ISLAND (WABC) -- In a surprising reversal, the governing board for high schools sports in Suffolk County has postponed all sports this fall over concerns of spreading the coronavirus.

In conjunction with its Athletic Council, County Athletic Directors, Safety Committee and Suffolk County Executive Board, Section XI will be postponing all sports until January 4 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"While this was a difficult decision, we feel it was the best move for the health and safety of everyone involved," Section XI Executive Director Tom Combs said. "We still have a lot of hard work ahead in planning and executing on the three seasons across six months in 2021, but we look forward to the challenge and collaboration with our member schools and providing an impactful experience for our student-athletes and coaches."

Officials cited the potential for increased positive cases of COVID-19; the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, officials and staff members; a reduced number of spectators; a lack of locker room and facility use; increased costs in transportation and security for school districts; and equity among all school districts.

Section XI's Athletic Council voted this week to postpone the fall season and condense all three seasons - fall, winter, spring - from January through June.

Section XI will run three complete seasons for the varsity, junior varsity and modified levels.

These seasons will allow for all teams to play an adapted season with a culminating championship event.

The seasons will run as follows:

Varsity and JV

--Season 1 (Winter), January 4- February 27

--Season 2 (Fall), March 1- May 1

--Season 3 (Spring), April 26- June 19

Modified sports

--Season 1 (Winter), January 4- February 6

--Season 2 (Late Winter), February 8- Mar 20

--Season 3 (Fall), March 22- May 8

--Season 4 (Spring), May 10- June 12

Previously, Section XI had said it would continue with the plan to allow low-risk high school sports to resume September 21.

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