Calling on Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) to create equitable forms of competition for schools and students unable to compete in their sports in the normal way because of public health guidance in their communities.

WHEREAS; A level playing field and fair play are hallmarks of high school athletics; and

WHEREAS; The dual purpose of high school athletics is to strive for high achievement on the fields of play and prepare future citizens with lifelong lessons for living; and

WHEREAS; It isn’t currently possible to play some or all sports in communities harder hit by the COVID-19 pandemic; and

WHEREAS; The job of educators is to structure educational opportunities to respond to their students and high school student athletes are students first and foremost; and

WHEREAS; In those communities where playing large team sports or in close contact is not recommended by local public health officials there should be opportunities for skill based competition for students to strive to achieve and express the discipline and dedication to craft that is a hallmark of the student athlete experience; and

WHEREAS; Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association is the established brand and signal of quality competition and fair play for high school athletes across the Commonwealth. PIAA participation and sanction of skill based competitions would elevate them above any ad hoc efforts; and

WHEREAS; As President Lincoln once said about a different moment of national reckoning “the dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to our stormy present, we must think anew and act anew”; and

WHEREAS; The COVID-19 pandemic is our generations stormy present and we must create new and imaginative ways of living out our core values; and

WHEREAS; In the midst of pandemic how we set up the competitions and benchmarks of achievement may need to change but the seeking of excellence, disciple and dedication to craft and the need tom start from an equal footing must endure; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the City Council of Philadelphia, Calls on Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) to create equitable forms of competition for schools and students unable to compete in their sports in the normal way because of public health guidance in their communities.

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