By: Alec Eskin

It has been a long three months since all schools in Pennsylvania closed in mid-March resulting in all spring sports canceling their seasons. Hopefully all of you have been staying healthy and kept yourselves sane during this quarantine. As of today, we are currently in Governor Tom Wolf’s yellow phase of Pennsylvania’s plan to reopen. However, the big news today is that all sports can now resume whether a country is in the yellow or green phase. But, they have to follow the guidelines set by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Governor Wolf. This is the best news that a lot of high school sports have heard in a long time. This is a huge step in the right direction in hopes of getting a fall sports season off. Let’s take a deeper look into what the guidelines say.

First off, the amount of people gathered at a practice or a game in the yellow phase (which is what Delco is in) has to have 25 or less people and in the green phase 250 or less. Also, each practice facility cannot exceed 50%. I’m not sure what the maximum capacity of Moe DeFrank Stadium is but I think it would be a few thousand. Now since Garnet Valley has over 100 players on their team, the start of full on practices might have to wait until the green phase. However, based on history, the Garnet Valley sports team should be very good this year once again. Next, it is up to each district whether or not sports can resume, not the state since each country in PA is in a different phase. Then, everyone other than players are highly recommended to wear a mask, this includes coaches and other personnel. Then, players, coaches, and staff need to be screened for symptoms. After that, players need to bring their own water and cannot share bottles or use disposable cups. Then, players are discouraged to high five, fist bump, etc. The last thing, which is probably the biggest, is that everyone must have social distance. This is going to be an obstacle for some sports like football, you need to tackle someone. Others like cross country might not have as tough of a time.

Now, all of the information above is subject to change as it was just released by the Wolf Administration today. So, if the COVID-19 situation keeps improving, the restrictions on youth sports could be loosened. Updates will be provided once they are released by Tom Wolf. The future of the fall sports season remains unclear, but there is a lot of optimism that it will go on as planned. Stay safe everyone and have a great day.