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Times Leader P.M. Update: Wednesday, Dec. 23

Wolf seeks $145M fund shift to help businesses with pandemic

The Wyoming Valley Conference approved revised schedules for all winter sports Wednesday during a virtual meeting of its athletic directors.
				New schedules were necessary after Gov. Tom Wolf banned scholastic and youth sports from Dec. 12 to Jan. 4 because of rising COVID-19 cases in the state. The WVC lost numerous non-conference and conference games because of the shutdown.
				WVC wrestling will start Jan. 9. The WVC girls basketball season will begin Jan. 14 with the boys season and swimming starting the next day.
				All teams are required by the PIAA to have four practices &mdash; and at least 10 total for basketball and wrestling and five for swimming &mdash; once Wolf&rsquo;s suspension is lifted on Jan. 4 before playing. Any practices held previously count toward the total, but four additional practices must be conducted regardless. That means the earliest any team could play would be Jan. 8, and most athletic directors indicated their teams will be ready to go on that date.
				In boys basketball, only three teams won&rsquo;t have enough practices by Jan. 8. Crestwood and Pittston Area would be ready Jan. 9, Wyoming Seminary of Jan. 10 and Wyoming Area on Jan. 11.
				Five girls basketball team won&rsquo;t be able to play on Jan. 8. Crestwood, Pittston Area and Wyoming Area will reach the required practices on Jan. 9. Wyoming Seminary will have to wait until Jan. 12 and Dallas until Jan. 13.
				MMI Prep is not having winter sports because of COVID-19 concerns. The school, which didn&rsquo;t have fall sports, fields teams in boys and girls basketball.
				Three WVC wrestling teams will also need additional practices before having a match. Pittston Area will be ready Jan. 9, Wyoming Area on Jan. 11 and Crestwood on Jan. 15.
				While the WVC wrestling season starts Jan. 9, the athletic directors decided not to have another revision to the schedule since only three matches would have to be moved &mdash; Wyoming Area at Nanticoke Area, Crestwood at Hazleton Area and Tunkhannock at Crestwood.
				The PIAA Board of Directors moved the state wrestling team championships from Feb. 8-12 to March, allowing more wiggle room for the WVC to adjust its schedule if needed.
				In swimming, Wyoming Valley West will have to wait until Jan. 12 and Wilkes-Barre Area until Jan. 15 before having a meet.
				Here are some other items addressed at the meeting.
				&#8226; District 2 chairman Frank Majikes said a meeting will be scheduled next week for the WVC and Lackawanna Interscholastic Athletic Association athlete directors to formulate plans for district playoffs.
				Majikes added there are some concerns because the LIAA superintendents mandated that no sports could be held until Jan. 21. He has been in contact with North Pocono principal Ron Collins, the LIAA representative on the District 2 athletic committee, to see if that date could change with the PIAA reducing required practices from 15 to 10.
				&ldquo;If that doesn&rsquo;t change, we&rsquo;re going to have to look at their conference schedule and see where we&rsquo;re going with districts,&rdquo; Majikes said.
				&#8226; Majikes said he held preliminary discussions with officials from Mohegan Sun Arena to determine the viability of holding the district basketball championships there. He plans to meet with them again after the holidays.
				The district basketball championships have been held at Mohegan Sun Arena annually since 2017.
				&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know which way we&rsquo;re going there yet,&rdquo; Majikes said. &ldquo;Obviously, we have to be realistic with, number one, with the percentages (of spectators) out there that aren&rsquo;t permitted and the cost factor.
				&ldquo;Obviously, if it&rsquo;s under the current condition we&rsquo;d lose our shirt if we were reduced with the (spectator) numbers.&rdquo;
				&#8226; The WVC athletic directors agreed that the district basketball playoffs should be limited to a maximum of eight teams in any classification. However, the LIAA would also have to approve the arraignment before the District 2 athletic committee could make it official.
				&#8226; The WVC will propose to the District 2 athletic committee that teams must play at least 33% of their schedule to qualify for the district playoffs. For basketball, that would mean a minimum of eight games. There were some issues in the fall with football where three LIAA teams qualified but played just four games.
				&ldquo;In our discussions yesterday, Lackawanna hasn&rsquo;t addressed that as of yet,&rdquo; said Hazleton Area athletic director Fred Barletta, who is also the WVC athletic directors president. &ldquo;I did let them know what the Wyoming Valley is going to propose at the January meeting.&rdquo;
				Wrestling teams would also need 33% of their matches completed. Swimming would not be affected since there are no district team championships in the sport.
				&#8226; District 2 hasn&rsquo;t set dates yet for any district competitions in basketball, swimming and team wrestling. The deadline to complete individual district wrestling championships remained at Feb. 20.

Wyoming Valley Conference approves revisions to winter sports schedules