Gov. Wolf recommends no sports in Pennsylvania until January 2021

York, PA — Update: In reaction to Governor Tom Wolf's recommendation of suspending all sports until January of 2021, the PIAA said they were "tremendously disappointed" but did not offer any further clarification. Read their Tweet below:

RELATED | Gov. Wolf unsure about safety of contact sports, as schools stick with remote learning

With twelve simple words, Governor Tom Wolf threw a wrench into thousands of athletes plans, just days before fall sports were set to get underway.

“The recommendation is that we don’t do any sports until January 1,” said Governor Wolf.

The announcement this morning sent shock waves throughout the commonwealth, indicating he doesn’t believe sports, both high school and youth, should happen until 2021.

“We are to avoid any congregate settings and that means anything that’s going to bring people together,” said Governor Wolf.

“It blindsided a lot of people. It just feels like the rug has been pulled out from underneath you,” said Chuck Abbott, YAIAA Executive Director.

Just an hour before the Governor’s announcement, the York-Adams league voted 22 to 1 to delay the beginning of its season. First priority is getting the kids back in the classroom.

“Our first emphasis is to get the kids back in school first and see how that goes and then move forward with the athletic programs,” Abbott said.

For weeks, district leaders have tried to tackle the question of the next step. The YAIAA today followed Mid-Penn and Lancaster-Lebanon by delaying the start of practice until September 4. Heat acclimation for football is planned to start on August 31 which means the 15-day practice period puts their first game on September 18. Other sport contests, with the exception of golf and tennis, will begin on September 24.

“We are going to move forward until someone says you’re not going to. That is our plan of attack right now,” Abbott said.

“Anytime we get together for any reason, that’s a problem,” said Governor Wolf.

Those two conflicting viewpoints are leaving coaches, families and young student-athletes even further confused. While understanding the severity of the virus, athletic supporters point towards the importance of the lessons learned on the field.

“Athletics is an extension of the classroom because you learned so many valuable lessons out there,” said Abbott.

While the Governor’s guidance is not binding, the PIAA, the governing sports body is congregating to make some decisions. An emergency meeting started at 2:30. It’s closed to the public and we are awaiting any determination or guidance. To date, the PIAA has recommended sports continue for the fall.

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UPDATE: The Pennsylvania Department of Health and Department of Education jointly recommends that Pre-K through 12 school and recreational youth sports be postponed until at least January 1, 2021, to protect children and teens from COVID-19. According to a release from the Wolf Administration, this is a strong recommendation, not an order or mandate.

Highlights of the recommendation to pause youth sports until Jan. 1, 2021:

• Applies to team and individual, school and non-school recreational youth sports;
• Includes competitions, intramural play and scrimmages;
• Continue conditioning, drills and other training activities on an individual basis;
• Does not apply to collegiate and professional sports;
• Gathering limits remain unchanged - no more than 25 persons may gather indoors and 250 outdoors.

The Wolf administration is leaving the decision to school administrators and locally elected school boards. Existing sports guidance is being updated to reflect the recommendation.

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Harrisburg, Pa. (WHP) - Today during an update regarding expanded COVID-19 testing availability in Pennsylvania, Governor Tom Wolf announced that his administration is recommending that sports are not played in the state until next year.

"The guidance is that we are to avoid any congregate settings and that means... anything that helps bring people together is going to help that virus get us. We ought to do everything we can do to defeat that virus. So anytime we get together for any reason that’s a problem because it makes it easier for that virus to spread so the guidance from us, the recommendation is that we don’t do any sports until January 1."

Legislators, Coaches, League Officials even the PIAA are stunned.

This is not what anyone was expecting when the Governor talked about updated guidance for the PIAA.

CBS21 News had a brief conversation with the PIAA office and learned that the board of directors is in complete shock.

They said they did not see this coming and we're told they are now in a meeting as they attempt to craft a response and a path forward.

Their response is expected today.

We also reached out to the Governor’s Office for clarification. You heard him say sports. Does he mean all sports? Just sports that fall under the PIAA’s umbrella? There’s a lot of confusion right now and we’re told that someone with the Governor’s office will get back with us as soon as they can.

Remember the Governor said, “the guidance from us, the recommendation is that we don’t do any sports until January 1.”

Many leagues like Lancaster-Lebanon just established a new schedule for fall sports and for now at least, it’s unclear how that or they will be affected.

The PIAA Board of Directors will meet on Friday, August 7. They will release a statement, following this meeting.

Governor Wolf and Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine also highlighted the state's efforts to expand testing across the commonwealth to ensure that every Pennsylvanian who wants a test can get one.

“If we want to mitigate the spread of this very contagious virus, we must continue to understand how it’s impacting Pennsylvania. Most importantly, improving access to testing helps Pennsylvanians who want and need to test for COVID-19,” Gov. Wolf said. “Testing also provides us with critical data to understand where the disease is in our communities so that we can take the necessary proactive measures to stop the spread and continue to protect the public.”

The Wolf Administration continues to work to further increase testing in Pennsylvania. This includes partnerships in place with Walmart and Quest Diagnostics, which provide direct access in many communities, including rural areas.

The administration also continues to work with laboratories across the state in order to enhance testing capacity in Pennsylvania, particularly as we see significant national delays in receiving test results due to other states experiencing major case increases.

“In Pennsylvania, we are committed to ensuring that testing is accessible, available and adaptable,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. “Through working with our partners, including Walmart and Quest Diagnostics, we are helping to ensure that anyone who needs to get tested for COVID-19 in Pennsylvania can get tested. Testing, along with wearing a mask, washing your hands, maintaining social distancing and contact tracing are essential tools to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania.”

Nine drive-thru Walmart testing sites launched on Aug. 5. These nine new sites are in addition to existing Walmart drive-thru sites in Clarion, State College, New Castle and Edinboro.

"Walmart is happy to assist Governor Wolf with reliable timely COVID-19 tests via a convenient drive thru," said Jamie Reilly, Walmart regional health and wellness director.

Pennsylvania has conducted the ninth highest total number of tests for COVID-19 in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 1.6 million tests have been completed, which equates to 13 percent of the Pennsylvania population.

At the height of the first wave in April, statewide testing capacity was limited to under 8,000 tests per day. Pennsylvania is now averaging more than 22,000 test results per day, as of Saturday, Aug. 1, and is testing about 4 percent of the population each month.

The most updated testing sites and information is available at the Department of Health. Testing sites continue to be added.

For the updated commonwealth map of testing sites, visit Pennsylvania COVID-19 Viral Testing Sites.