UIL, TAPPS cancel all remaining spring activities and high school state championships
When Gov. Greg Abbott made his announcement Friday that schools would remain closed for the rest of the 2019-20 school year amid the coronavirus pandemic, it was only a matter of time until the UIL and TAPPS followed with their decisions to cancel the balance of the year’s athletic season.
The UIL and TAPPS have gone without any competition since the middle of March and were hoping to make a return as early as May 4, but Friday afternoon both leagues announced that the remainder of spring activities and all high school state championships have been canceled.
That includes the boys basketball state tournament in San Antonio. The UIL was four games into Day 1 of the tourney on March 12 when it decided to suspend the rest of the event.
The league had hoped to finish the tournament sometime between now and next season, but boys basketball in 2019-20, which is a winter sport, has also been canceled, according to the UIL via text on Thursday.
“Our staff had been working hard on plans to resume activities this spring, but without schools in session, interscholastic activities cannot continue,” said UIL executive director Dr. Charles Breithaupt in a press release. “Our highest priority during this challenging time is ensuring the health and safety of our students and communities and making progress in the containment of COVID-19 in Texas. We are now turning our attention to the 2020-2021 school year.”
UIL practices, rehearsals and workouts remain suspended until further notice. The previously communicated information allowing remote instruction remains in place. The UIL will continue to follow the direction of state authorities and will work closely with member schools to navigate this unprecedented time.
“I am grateful to the UIL staff for their leadership and dedication to students,” said UIL Legislative Council chair Curtis Rhodes. “Together we will get through this and we look forward to the day students are once again able to participate in education-based interscholastic activities.”
Among the UIL spring sports affected are soccer, track, golf, tennis, softball, baseball and spring football.
The boys and girls soccer seasons were down to the final two weeks before starting the playoffs, which were set to begin on March 26 with the bi-district round. The state tournament was supposed to take place in Georgetown this week.
The softball playoffs were originally set for May 2, and baseball’s postseason was to start on May 9.
TAPPS canceled all of the same athletic programs except soccer, which wrapped up the season just before the cancellations began.
“With the onset of the COVID-19 virus, our staff and executive board developed several options for our return to play. The health and safety of our students, coaches, fans and hosts remained in the forefront of all of those options,” said TAPPS Executive Director Bryan Bunselmeyer in a YouTube video. “As the COVID-19 situation continues today, we’ve reached our final phase of the spring. Unfortunately, we’ve moved forward to Option D, the cancellation of all spring activities for TAPPS.”
The Southwest Preparatory Confernce (SPC) canceled its spring season on April 6.
This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 4:50 PM.
