Some high school fall sports may be in jeopardy because of COVID-19 restrictions, according to a Staten Island PSAL athletic director.

Curtis AD Eric Ritzer told SILive.com and the Advance Friday afternoon that hes worried about the status of some fall sports, especially in light of some college conferences announcing the cancelation or delay of their fall sports seasons.

Also, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA), which oversees all the high schools in the Garden State, announced on Friday that it has delayed the start of the fall sports season to Sept. 14, the first day teams can conduct official practice.

Although Ritzer hasnt officially heard anything, Im still holding out hope that we will have sports in the fall, he said.

At the very least, cross country, bowling, tennis and golf I can see being played. Unfortunately its a wait and see. Obviously the most important thing is the health and safety of the kids.

Ritzer says he sees a ray of hope in the fact that Little League baseball and some travel ball teams have begun to play games.

Lets see how that works, he said. If kids dont get sick this could be a good thing for high school sports being played in the fall.

The higher-risk contact sports like football, soccer and volleyball may be a problem as far as getting back on the field and playing actual games.

When asked if soccer, football and some other falls sports could be played in the spring instead of the fall, Ritzer said, I dont think so because theres a whole lot of logistical problems.

Moving the fall sports to spring and visa versa could work and has been tossed around as an option by some in the state.

Marco Altieri, the Susan Wagner girls volleyball coach whose team is supposed to start up in the fall, thinks switching seasons is very much doable.

I think it will take very imaginative athletic directors and selfless coaches to make it work, said Altieri. I think some kind of season will make the kids happy. I want to see the kids back in school learning most importantly.

Like the NJSIAA, theres a possibility the PSAL and CHSAA (including the CHSFL) could delay the start of their fall seasons.

Two weeks ago, it was announced that CHSFL football teams would be allowed to conduct practices at the end of July, but that has since changed according to St. Peters football coach Mark DeCristoforo, who doubles as the New Brighton schools athletic director.

We were shut down by the governor (Andrew Cuomo), he said. No on-campus activities for any high school until he decides and the school plans are laid out.

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High school fall sports season on Staten Island still very much up in the air, says AD - SILive.com