Coaches, players excited to get back to business with winter sports

PITTSBURGH — Athletic directors, coaches and players are all excited winter sports can resume this coming Monday.

“Hearing the announcement was like we got a great big win and something to celebrate,” said Gateway Athletic Director Donald Holl. “We are pressing the restart button. The good news is we are going to get a game in our gym on Friday and it should be a lot of fun for our kids to finally have the chance to play.”

The state suspended the season for three weeks to help slow the spread of COVID-19. But Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday that the temporary restrictions will be lifted as planned on Jan. 4 because the mitigation efforts over the past few weeks are working.

“There was a sense of relief,” said North Catholic basketball coach Dave DeGregorio.

DeGregorio said all student athletes should still be careful before hitting the court.

“I send a text to the kids everyday. Today’s text was “hey we are getting back at it on the 4th. avoid large gatherings today. be smart”,” he said.

But will fans be allowed in the stands for basketball games, wrestling matches and swim meets?

“It’s going to be a district-by-district decision. Many had defaulted into saying no visiting fans, no visiting cheer, no visiting pep band,” Holl said.

As for Gateway, Holl said they’re still deciding.

“One of the components of the governor’s message from yesterday is that they went back to to the percentage capacity so with a 2,000 seat gymnasium, we can have 15%. So we can have a maximum of 300 people,” he said.

A final decision on fans is expected before Gateway’s game on Friday.

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Cox Media Group