High school sports in Suffolk postponed until January

Nassau had previously decided to postpone high school sports until 2021.

News 12 Staff

Sep 11, 2020, 11:21 AM

Updated 1,457 days ago

Share:

High school sports in Suffolk postponed until January
Suffolk County athletics officials have decided to postpone all high school sports until Jan. 4.
Among the reasons for the decision, according to the executive director of Suffolk's Section XI, is the potential for increased positive cases of COVID-19, the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches, officials and staff members and increased costs in transportation and security.
The move means fall, winter, spring sports will all run at the same time from January through June. Fall sports begin March 1, and spring sports begin April 26. There will be one week of overlapping sports.
"We didn't want to pit one school district against another. So if one district said we can't participate because of financial reasons or safety ... then the neighboring districts say we're going to play, that puts pressure on those districts," says Section XI Executive Director Tom Combs.
The move comes as fall teams like soccer, swimming and more were preparing for a potential Sept. 21 start.
Amanda Szollosi, a senior soccer player for Sachem North High School, says she was blindsided by the decision.
"It's just really weird because I feel like school was doing an amazing job with everything. Now they're canceling sports and postponing them," she says.
Nassau had previously decided to postpone high school sports until 2021 as well, but its decision was handed down a few weeks ago.