NEW YORK STATE – The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) has created a COVID-19 task force and has voted to delay the start of the winter sports season by about two weeks.

This announcement comes after New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on August 24 that fall sports could begin on September 21.

Watson said Cuomo has permitted low and moderate risk sports to have competitions this fall, while high risk fall sports will be prohibited from having any games or contests until authorization is granted from New York State officials on or before December 31st.

According to NYSPHSAA Director of Communications Chris Watson, on Monday, August 31, the NYSPHSAA COVID-19 task force voted to delay the start of the winter sports season from November 16 to November 30 to give schools and sections more time to complete the fall athletic season.

“The NYSPHSAA officers decision also includes waiving the seven consecutive day rule starting on October 12th, continuing to consider the high-risk sports of football and volleyball as fall sports, and restricting games for low and moderate risk sports to compete within their league or section until October 19th,” he said. “With regional differences, schools and areas will continue to be impacted differently by the COVID-19 crisis.”