We’ve done some recent stories on the PIAA and high school sports in the Philadelphia region, writing about the Philadelphia Public and Catholic League decisions to postpone until 2021, at the earliest.

Joining them will be the Inter-AC league, which will push back fall sports due to COVID-19, and instead hold three seven-week seasons for students in the new year.

From the league website:

The members of the Inter-Academic Athletics League continue to focus on plans for the 2020-21 academic year with the safety and well-being of students, faculty, staff, and their communities the primary concern. In response to the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Directors of Athletics and Heads of School have been meeting diligently to address opening our schools safely, as well as the safety and well-being of our communities. Athletics engagement is an important part of the experience for many of our students, and member institutions remain committed to this experience. However, the Heads of School and Directors of Athletics have unanimously decided to suspend any inter-scholastic competition through December 31, 2020. This decision was made given the unprecedented health concerns we face in our community and in consideration with Gov. Wolf’s strong recommendation, as well as updated policy recommendations from CHOP PolicyLab.

The Inter-AC league comprises a handful of private schools in our region, such as Espicopal Academy and Malvern Prep. Because the conference is smaller, these schools typically play a schedule that includes non-league schools like Archbishop Wood and La Salle College High School. With those teams sitting in postponement until 2021, there would have been a mad scramble to find new opponents to play, which might have been impossible.

This news means that the only high school football you’re going to get in this region in 2020 will be individual non-Philadelphia county conferences, like the PAC or Suburban Athletic League. Maybe those will be cancelled also. Who knows.