Winter Sports Season At Connecticut Schools to Be Delayed

CONNECTICUT — Winter sports season at Connecticut schools will start later than the scheduled Nov. 21 opening, following a decision by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) to acquire further guidance from the state Department of Public Health (DPH).

In a letter sent to CIAC member school principals, superintendents and athletic directors early Thursday afternoon, CAS-CIAC Executive Director Glenn Lungarini said the process for determining a winter sports plan, necessitated by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, is awaiting updates from the DPH and the CIAC's Sports Medicine Advisory Committee.

Once a final draft of the winter proposal is completed, it will be considered by the CIAC Board of Control at its next meeting, which has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 17. An exact starting date for winter practices will be determined at that meeting, Lungarini said.

The complete letter from Lungarini reads:

Dear CIAC Member School Principals, Superintendents, and Athletic Directors,

The purpose of this communication is to update you on the CIAC winter sports plan process. The CIAC anticipates an update by DPH on winter sports very soon. A meeting with the CSMS Sports Medicine Committee is scheduled for next week to review updated DPH sport guidance along with the CIAC winter sports draft plan. Upon completion of that meeting, the CIAC will have a final winter sports draft proposal for consideration by the CIAC Board of Control.

To allow adequate time to review updated DPH guidance and to receive recommendations from CIAC’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, the CIAC Board of Control meeting has been rescheduled to Tuesday, November 17th. The CIAC understands that, upon approval of its winter sports plan, each member school will need some time to review that document with its local health department. Therefore, the CIAC is postponing the November 21st winter sports start date. The CIAC Board of Control will consider a new start date for winter sports at its November 17th board meeting.

Thank you,

Glenn Lungarini
Executive Director, CAS-CIAC

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