(WAVY) — Two school divisions on the Virginia Peninsula and Chesapeake schools have announced plans to cancel winter sports this week as coronavirus cases continue to increase after the holidays.
On Tuesday, both Hampton City Schools and Newport News Public Schools announced their respective high school winter sports would be canceled after consultation between the two divisions.
The announcements from the Peninsula come just one day after Hampton schools also announced the division would extend its 100 virtual learning model through the first week of February.
Chesapeake schools also elected to cancel winter sports during a school board meeting Monday night.
WAVY News 10’s Nathan Epstein spoke with Chesapeake Supervisor of Student Activities Kevin Cole to learn more about what led to the decision to cancel winter sports. For more, watch the video at the top of this post.
The cancellation of sports includes basketball, indoor track, swimming and cheerleading in both divisions. Wrestling in both Peninsula localities had already been canceled Dec. 7.
“This decision, made in cooperation with school divisions in the Peninsula District … comes amid the increasing COVID-19 cases and positivity rates on the Peninsula and the risks associated with increased contact through practices and competitions,” the Hampton and Newport News divisions wrote in their respective news releases Tuesday.
The winter sports cancellation doesn’t impact the planning for season two fall sports or three spring sports in the Peninsula District. The divisions will monitor COVID-19 metrics as planning continues for those seasons.
Season 2 sports run from Feb. 4 to May 1 and include competition cheerleading, cross country, field hockey, football, golf and volleyball. The Virginia High School League rescheduled the 2020-2021 fall sports season to run from Feb. 15 through April 30.
Season three sports run from April 12 to June 26 and include baseball, soccer, softball, tennis and track and field. Season three sports in Newport News also include lacrosse.
For more information from Newport News Public Schools, click here.
For more information from Hampton City Schools, click here.
