State championships in high school spring sports is the latest casualty of the COVID-19 crisis.
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association announced Monday morning that all of the state tournaments slated to take place from June 4 to 13 will not happen.
“Unfortunately, with the continued impact of the COVID-19 crisis, hosting the spring 2020 state championships is no longer feasible (due to) time factor, facility and venue availability,”s said NYSPHSAA president Paul Harrica.
This decision followed one from Section VIII and XI, the sections representing Long Island’s Nassau and Suffolk counties, to cancel its entire spring sports season as those areas have been some of the hardest-hit in the nation in terms of COVID-19 cases and deaths.
State tournaments were supposed to take place in boys tennis, boys and girls golf, track and field, boys and girls lacrosse, baseball and softball in various locations, including in Central New York, as Cicero-North Syracuse was set to host the state track and field meet June 12 and 13, just as girls lacrosse state titles were decided again at SUNY-Cortland.
As of now, the high school spring sports season in Section III remains delayed, but a decision could be made later this week about whether schools across New York State open for the rest of the academic year. Only nine out of the 50 states have not canceled spring sports seasons.
NYSPHSAA has said that no high school sports can take place until schools reopen. Section III officials have said it could make schedule adjustments, including going later into June and using doubleheaders in baseball and softball if necessary.
