Editor’s note: This article has been updated since the publication of the March 19 edition of the Independent.
EASTHAM — The local sports schedule has been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Mass. Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) has pushed back the start of the high school spring sports season until at least April 27, the day after the scheduled April vacation. Completion of regular season and tournament games would take place no later than June 20, the MIAA said.
“There’s no playbook for this,” Nauset Supt. Thomas Conrad told the regional school committee on March 12.
Gov. Charlie Baker announced on March 15 that all schools would be closed for a minimum of three weeks.
Other events like Nauset’s winter sports award ceremony scheduled for March 12, the 28th annual Billingsgate Basketball Tournament at both Wellfleet Elementary School and Nauset Regional High School scheduled for March 21 and 22, and Wellfleet Recreation’s postseason basketball party scheduled for the same weekend have all been canceled.
Nauset Athletic Director John Mattson did not return a phone call or email last week.
All adult and youth recreation programs in Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown have been suspended until further notice.
Provincetown Recreation Director Brandon Motta said in an email that Veterans Memorial Community Center will be closed to the public, but recreation staff will still be responding to phone calls and emails.
These measures fit within a larger context of caution and cancellations as the professional and collegiate sports world has come to a standstill due to the spread of COVID-19.
The Masters golf tournament held annually in April has been postponed. The Boston Marathon has also been postponed to a tentative date of Sept. 14. The National Basketball Association (NBA), National Hockey League (NHL), and Major League Soccer (MLS) have suspended their seasons until further notice.
It was announced on March 11 that NBA player Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for coronavirus and the association immediately suspended the season. Gobert and the Jazz played the Boston Celtics in Boston on March 6. Players from teams that had played the Jazz within 10 days of March 11, including the Celtics, were told to self-quarantine, according to ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst.
Since that time at least two other NBA players have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The annual “March Madness” collegiate men’s and women’s basketball tournaments have been canceled. Major League Baseball (MLB) announced it will delay the start of the 2020 season by at least two weeks.
