State championships will not be held for 2020 spring sports in New York, but the possibility for regular season games remains, officials said Monday.
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) officially canceled its spring championships and postseason tournaments, set for June 4-13. With schools closed state-wide through at least May 15 under Governor Andrew Cuomo’s order due to the COVID-19 crisis, teams would not have enough time to hold a postseason even under the best-case scenario for re-opening.
The state’s spring sports include track and field, boys tennis, softball, baseball, golf and lacrosse.
“Unfortunately, with the continued impact of the COVID-19 crisis, hosting the spring 2020 state championships is no longer feasible (time factor, facility and venue availability, etc.),” NYSPHSAA President Paul Harrica said in a press release Monday morning. “Canceling the remaining winter state championships in late March was challenging and the cancelation of our spring state championships today is equally disappointing.”
The NYSPHSAA’s announcement gives the option to local sections and leagues to decide on a regular season, though by Monday, Section 7 and 11 had already canceled the spring season.
Section 6 executive director Timm Slade said the sectional championships have also been called off, while the executive committee “is still affording leagues the opportunity to participate in some form of a regular season” only for the varsity level.
Schools would need to open, by order of the governor, by June 1 to hold any regular season events, Slade said. Individual leagues may decide to cancel before that date if necessary.
THE CANCELATIONS didn’t surprise Cattaraugus-Little Valley softball coach Heather Kagelmacher, but she said the possibility for a regular season gives her some hope.
“There was communication earlier on in the closure that they were going to hold off until the last possible minute to close, which I feel we all knew was inevitable,” Kagelmacher said. “I’ve been hoping all along to be able to have some local games, so the fact that they are still allowing for that to even be a possibility is outstanding.”
The Timberwolves have eight seniors, including three starters since their freshmen year and another since their sophomore year. Kagelmacher hopes to be able to give that “very talented senior group” a proper sendoff somehow.
“I think some of them have thought of it as a write-off for the entire season,” Kagelmacher said of her seniors. “I’ve been trying to keep them kind of optimistic. We run an app, we’re not the only team in our school that does this. I give them workouts to follow and they post their workouts, just to try to keep them in shape and try to stay optimistic about it.
“I did tell them today that the state did cancel the playoffs, which I’m pretty sure that they kind of knew was coming anyway. But the release that we got earlier in the season said that the kids deserve to have their senior nights. I said you’ve got to hope for the best and hope that we can play at least two or three games.”
BASEBALL COACHES, including Portville’s Mike Matz, appreciated the hope given by the window for regular season games at the end of the school year.
“The idea that they canceled the state tournament certainly wasn’t much of a surprise,” Matz said. “Even if we got back and played a season, there just wouldn’t be enough time. Even if we went back to school on Monday the 18th … that’s (normally) the start of sectionals. There’s just not enough time. Canceling the state tournament certainly was not much of a surprise, but I think like a lot of coaches, we’re still holding out hope.”
Matz said he hopes to see games, “whether that’s 10 games, five games, one game.
“Just something,” he said. “Until somebody who knows far more than I do tells me we can’t, we’re going to keep preparing like we’re going to have something.”
The Panthers meet by Zoom and Matz sends the players drills they can work on alone or with someone in their home.
“We have to talk through everything instead of actually doing it, so we’re talking about first and third defenses or bunt defenses or even the offensive plays that we call,” he said.
“Obviously, like everybody, I’ve been discouraging gatherings. I’ve told them too, ‘Look, if you want any hope for a season, we all have to follow by these rules and be on the same page as far as not getting together and not having pickup practices, even, or anything like that.’”
