Dr. Tono Jones and Athletic Director Gus Lindine emailed Greenwich Schools families to say that the CIAC has canceled remaining state tournament games due to the uncertainity of the coronavirus.
In addition, they said the GHS Girls Ice Hockey Team is not in the CIAC, but their Conference Hockey Committee met Tuesday morning and decided to align with CIAC and cancel their tournament events as well.
The CIAC announcement was made on Tuesday morning by Executive Director Glenn Lungarini who said the decision was made after consulting with many school districts and officials.
Dr. Jones and Lindine said the cancellation of winter games was made out of an abundance of caution for students, families and community spectators.
“We truly understand how disappointing this news can be for our students, coaches and families,” the said. “We take so much pride in the athletic abilities and sportsmanship of all of our teams.”
Jones and Lindine shared a note from the CIAC to help provide additional context and rationale to their decision:
Dear Superintendents, Principals, and Athletic Directors:
After much consideration and consultation, the CIAC has made the difficult decision to cancel all remaining CIAC winter tournament games. The CIAC understands the disappointment that student-athletes, parents, coaches, and administrators may feel as a result of this decision. However, we must always place our student-athletes’ health and safety first.
Due to continuing concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus), the responses from local school districts and third-party venues have greatly varied. Some districts have informed us that they will no longer participate in our tournaments; others have indicated that will play while limiting crowds to less than 100 people; still others have stated they will play without any spectators in attendance; and finally, neutral sites have informed us that they can no longer host our events. Given the wide range of direction local districts are considering, coupled with diminishing availability of neutral facilities, the CIAC needs to take the lead in providing logistical direction to our membership.
Therefore, with many questions and unknowns still pending in Connecticut about COVID-19, we have made the decision to cancel our remaining winter championships so that schools can focus their attention on meeting their student’s educational needs.
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