SCRANTON, Pa. — WNEP Sports Director Jim Coles Spoke with PIAA District II Chaiman Frank Majikes about the PIAA's Return to Competition plan and how it affects the district this fall.
MAJIKES: "We're very optimistic, but we're optimistic with caution. We're hoping that there will be availability for the student athletes to participate, however, we're following the guidelines of the Department of Health, the Governor's office and of course, our own sports medicine advisory committee."
COLES: "What are you hearing now about spectators and who falls under that umbrella?"
MAJIKES: "Well to answer your question, Jim, I've been bombarded with emails and phone calls from parents and understandably so. Obviously, parents, especially senior parents are very, very concerned that they're not recognized. The Department of Health came out and indicted that the individuals from K-12 that are participating are only for student athletes, coaching staff, officials and working staff as assigned by the school. We're doing what we can to widen that and get some more information from the Department of Health and the Governor's office regarding their criteria on whether parents, band, cheerleaders and the media."
COLES: "I'm sitting here as a Sports Director wondering how do I protect my staff, how do we still continue to do what we love to do, which is covering high school sports? Do you see, foresee, this going through smoothly, because I frankly don't."
MAJIKES: "It's the feeling of the Board of Directors and the Executive Staff, Dr. Lombardi and his staff, that we not wholesale come out and say every district is down. If there are districts across the state that can participate, they're pretty good with the number of cases and so forth and it's allowable, then we feel right now that we shouldn't be telling a district you can't participate. We're just not ready to say across the whole state everyone is shut down, however I would ask the public that the PIAA not get blamed as far as the numbers go of what's allowed and not allowed. We did not set the criteria of 25 inside, we didn't set the criteria of 250 and we didn't set the criteria of just student athletes, coaches officials. That came from the Department of Health in conjunction with the Governor."