My phone dinged at 4:05 p.m. It was a short and sweet text message from my lovely bride. She simply asked if I had heard the news. I had no idea what she was talking about so I pleaded the fifth. Seconds later I received a call from one of my favorite players. He wanted to know if we were still having practice. Another text came in. Three more calls. It was absolute bedlam.

Governor Tom Wolf increased several new mitigations to combat the spread of COVID-19. High School sports and many others will be paused. They are to shut down from Saturday December 12th to January 4th. Voluntary activities sponsored or approved by a school entity’s governing body or administration are immediately suspended. This includes, but not limited to, attendance at or participation in activities such as musical ensembles, school plays, councils, clubs and school dances. All sports at K-12 public schools, nonpublic schools, privates, and clubs are also paused. This includes any travel, recreational, and intramural sports.

Look kids. Everyone’s an expert, but no one has any answers. This is the correct decision. We need to get this situation under control. No one wants to be the bad guy. No one wanted to pull the plug. Everyone is cool with passing the buck. But sports and extracurriculars need a pause. Look at the big picture.

“The top priority is stopping the spread so students and teachers can safely return to their classrooms as soon as possible. Data from the Department of Health notes that one quarter of the cases of COVID among school age children have occurred within the past two weeks, increasing the need to keep children safe outside of school.”

The PENNSYLVANIA PRINCIPALS ASSOCIATION recommended a delay to the start of the winter sports season earlier this week. But the PENNSYLVANIA INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION said we were good to go. The recent surges of cases among children increases the risk of asymptomatic participants who might spread the virus at a game or practice. The same goes in the locker room or on the bus traveling to and from.

We had practice from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. that evening. My phone continued to buzz throughout the night. The boys and I had a great chat before we got started. I told them this decision was totally out of our hands but we all knew it was coming. Tough pill to swallow. It was a coaching moment. Of course, they were disappointed. We had every intention of opening up this weekend. We passed out our uniforms, and were keeping our fingers crossed. The boys were doing extremely well with everything considered. I am very proud of my guys for adjusting. We have been wearing our masks and keeping our distance. They seem to understand the complex situation. The SJNRA Knights remain optimistic. We are also very thankful for the opportunity. Being able to spend some quality time together the past few weeks was very beneficial. Not only for the boys. But especially for their coach. It may sound cliche, but we were blessed to get in what we did. Stayed tuned sports fans.