new jersey high school sports – Syndication Server

New Jersey HS hockey season on hold after indoor sports suspension

The beginning of high school hockey season in New Jersey has been put on ice until at least January.

The beginning of high school hockey season in New Jersey has been put on ice until at least January after the suspension of all indoor adult, high school and youth sports.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Monday that the suspension will go into effect on Saturday at 6 a.m. and will last until Jan. 2 due to recent COVID-19 spikes in the state. The suspension does not apply to college and professional sports teams in the area.

“We’re seeing outbreaks related to indoor sports, and this will help slow the spread,” Murphy said in a press briefing.

High school ice hockey season was scheduled to begin practices on Dec. 14 with games beginning on Jan. 14. It remains to be seen if the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) will now extend hockey season beyond its originally scheduled end date of Feb. 17.

“We’re hopeful that, with schedule modifications, the ice hockey season will be viable when the state’s pause is lifted,” the NJSIAA said in a statement shared with USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey, per CentralJersey.com. “The governor has made it clear that he wants high school winter sports to be played, based on the significant mental and physical health benefits they provide and in recognition of the seniors who desire one more season of the sports they love.

“NJSIAA looks forward to working with the Governor and his staff in this regard.”

New Jersey pushes winter high school sports to 2021

Winter high school sports in New Jersey will not begin until the new year.

In response to the recent COVID-19 surge in the state, the NJSIAA, New Jersey’s high school sports governing body, shifted away from its initial plans for winter sports on Thursday, pushing all competition until 2021.

Winter sports were originally designated for “Season 2” under the NJSIAA’s original four-season plan for high school sports this scholastic year. The biggest changes to the NJSIAA’s original plan are wrestling being shifted from Season 2 to “Season 3”, which was a period previously created for volleyball, gymnastics and fall sports that could not be played in October or November. No Season 2 sports will have NJSIAA-sponsored postseason tournaments, meaning there will be no boys or girls basketball Tournament of Champions in 2021.

Basketball, fencing and bowling will now begin practices on Jan. 11 and games on Jan. 26. Swimming and indoor track will begin practices on Feb. 1 and competition on Feb. 16. Wrestling will begin practices on March 1 and matches on March 16. Ice hockey, the only sport that will begin before 2021, will begin practices on Dec. 14 and games on Jan. 4.

These changes are not subject to change, as they were made in collaboration with Gov. Phil Murphy.

“NJSIAA will continue to consult with DOH to determine if multi-team or multi-game events will be permissible; however, we expect decisions on expanding the scope of participants and/or teams will not be made until closer to the start of the season,” NJSIAA said in a statement.

COVID-19 sidelines 50 New Jersey high school football teams for first round of postseason

The high school football postseason in New Jersey is underway, but a slew of teams will not be able to participate because of COVID-19.

The high school football postseason in New Jersey is underway, but a slew of teams will not be able to participate in the first round because of COVID-19 issues.

As of Friday afternoon, 50 teams have been forced to back out of the first round of New Jersey’s unique abbreviated two-week postseason because of coronavirus-related issues, according to NJ Advance Media. The teams unable to participate in the first round are eligible to return to the second if their school districts allow athletic activities to resume.

The district hit hardest by COVID-19 has been Newark. With positive cases spiking in New Jersey’s largest city, Mayor Ras Baraka canceled interscholastic activities for a two-week period this past week and stated that no team could return to action until each member of the group tested negative. Baraka’s decision forced six Newark district high schools to cancel their postseason games this weekend.

The Shore Conference has also been ravaged by COVID-19 outbreaks, as Freehold Township, Howell, Keyport, Lakewood, Long Branch, Ocean Township and Point Pleasant Boro have all shut down their athletic programs for the next two weeks. Jackson Liberty shifted to remote learning in October and canceled its remaining fall sports seasons.

New Jersey high school opts out of winter sports

Burlington City High School in New Jersey will not offer sports this winter.

Burlington City High School in southern New Jersey has made the decision to not offer sports this winter.

According to NJ Advance Media, Superintendent Dr. John Russell confirmed the decision made by the district’s board of education on Monday, citing health and safety concerns.

“Winter athletic stipends were on the October 19th Board of Education agenda for consideration. The motion to appoint those positions did not receive an affirmative vote from a majority of board members,” Russell said in a statement. “After declining to move forward with fall sports, it was important to consider winter sports well in advance of the NJSIAA transfer deadline.

“Nobody relishes having to disappoint our students, but health and safety must remain the District’s top priority. Unfortunately, this was yet another difficult decision in a year full of tough choices, uncertainty, and limited options. We cannot wait for the day when our Blue Devil athletes can safely return to competition and continue making us proud.”

In previous years, Burlington City has offered boys and girls basketball, wrestling, indoor track and cheerleading as winter sports. Burlington City’s boys basketball team has won consecutive Central Jersey Group I championships and won three sectional titles in the last four years.

“I’m disappointed,” boys basketball coach Phil Collins said. “I understand the COVID situation, but there are 22 teams in the county and 16 played football. Not us. I don’t know what the numbers are for winter sports, but it’s disappointing for the kids. There are schedules to make, things to be done. I don’t think waiting would have changed this group.”

New Jersey high school sports team quarantining after COVID-19 exposure

A New Jersey high school sports team is quarantining after its exposure to COVID-19.

At least 25 students from a high school sports team in New Jersey are quarantining after being exposed to a student who tested positive for COVID-19.

According to the Asbury Park Press, Lakewood High School’s soccer team has been quarantined. The district’s latest coronavirus update also stated that two classes, a preschool special education and a kindergarten class, were placed in remote learning for 14 days after three staff members tested positive for COVID-19.

However, the district did not say how many students had been sent home to quarantine. Parents informed the Press that the soccer team had quarantined and were not happy that they were not alerted of the recent cases despite having children in the school.

“My daughter called me to tell me I had to pick her up from the high school because she had been close to a student who tested positive,” Ofelia Resendiz said. “The district called me until this morning to let me know that my daughter had been identified as a close contact.”

Lakewood has been one of New Jersey’s coronavirus hot spots throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Between Sept. 24-Sept. 30, 840 of Ocean County’s 1,214 positive coronavirus cases came from Lakewood.