OSWEGO, NY — On July 16th, The New York State Public High School Athletic Association announced changes to how high school athletics will work in the 2020-21 season. This statement comes as schools across New York State prepare for public schooling to reopen for the new school year. After the cancellation of the Spring 2020 season last year, there has been many questions revolving around high school athletics heading into this coming season.

The decision made by the Officers of the NYSPHSAA included a few changes along with guidelines on how schools/teams should prepare moving forward. The first being the start of the Fall sports season being moved to September 21st, which was supposed to begin on August 24th. The NYSPHSAA President, Paul Harrica, stated that this date would be unrealistic due to the current threats of COVID-19. Another major change is the cancellation of all Fall Regional and State Championship events. This is change was obviously made to decrease traveling between sports teams as teams from different sections around the state would travel to one central location to play the final games of the season. Minor adjustments and recommendations were also stated. For instance, the group has waived the seven-day practice rule, encouraged geographic scheduling for games, and schools have the option to offer off-season conditioning workouts.

These changes of course affect the Oswego Buccaneers teams, as many student-athletes were looking forward to the season beginning in the month of August. WTOP 10 will continue to bring coverage on this matter, as students will hopefully be returning to school by the beginning of September.