A decision on the fate of winter high school sports in New York could be coming sooner than originally expected.
According to syracuse.com, the New York Public High School Athletic Association has set Nov. 30 as the date when winter sports such as basketball, hockey and wrestling can begin practice. This decision comes after a timetable for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision whether to allow high-risk high school sports this winter emerged.
Cuomo has said that he will make his decision on winter high school sports “before Dec. 31.” However, that does little for the outlook of winter high school sports in New York, as competition is usually underway well before the end of December. The uncertainty surrounding Cuomo’s timetable for a decision is why the NYSPHSAA elected to push high-risk fall sports cheerleading, football and volleyball to March.
State budget director Robert Mujica said Cuomo will “likely” address winter sports at some point in November on a conference call Wednesday.
“That obviously is beneficial to us because we were under the impression we wouldn’t get any new information until Dec. 31,” NYSPHSAA spokesperson Chris Watson said. “I think the timeline that was announced today is a good timeline for us to get some things figured out. What will happen next is we will wait and see what we can get from state officials. To know that athletics is on their radar is a good sign for us.”