Winter sports in WV have been postponed until 2021 at Governor Jim Justice’s mandate.

Gov. Justice announced his decision in  a press Nov. 13 press conference conference that all winter sports–state-wide– are postponed until Jan. 11.  According to Justice, this includes all practices  and games.  

This announcement is a result of the recent spike of COVID-19 cases throughout the state. According the New York Times, there are 1,122 cases in West Virginia as of November 19.  

The cancellation came as a surprise to many. 

Most basketball players and wrestlers were disappointed in the decision.  Practices had already started and student athletes said they were “gearing up” for the season.

“I feel that as long as we’re safe about where we go and what we do, we should be allowed to play,” Will Hunt, a senior varsity basketball letterman, said about the sudden change.

Others recognize that the postponement is necessary to maintain the health of our communities and have a stable and consistent season.  

Assistant Girls’ Basketball coach, Julie Oldaker, agrees with this perspective.

“In the fall, we never knew how long our seasons would last, who we were going to play, if we were going to get to play. So even though everyone hates the idea of seasons being pushed back, hopefully, we can practice social distancing, and everyone can be healthy, so that the winter seasons can play out and there won’t be all of the uncertainty,” Oldaker said.  

All sports that have yet to conclude their play-offs are able to continue, if each county participating is in the gold on the COVID-19 map. 

The state-tourney bound cheerleaders have so far had a green light for their upcoming Dec. 12 competition in Huntington.  The competition squad has been able to continue to practice and prepare for the WV State Cheerleading Tournament.  However, with the uptick in cases, the athletes said they are worried the tournament will also be postponed.

This past weekend saw the cancellation of several play-off games which resulted in forfeits.  LCHS football narrowly missed the play-offs ranking 17th with the top 16 teams. The team was hoping to edge out and make it to the play-offs.

Despite this decision, students said they don’t understand how it is ok for some to practice and compete while others cannot.

Some admit frustration in that they didn’t see it coming.

“I don’t think that it is fair that the football season gets to continue even though it has just as much, if not more, contact with people,” Hunt said.

Along with the delay of sports, the governor also announced that all citizens, age 9 and older, are required to wear face coverings while indoors and called on businesses and other organizations to enforce the new order