The Whitehall-Coplay school board held a committee meeting on Monday to discuss their plans to continue with fall sports on the heels of the PIAA’s ruling last Friday that approved fall sports to take place this season.

The Whitehall board didn’t vote on the matter, but gave the thumbs up to play this fall, which is a vital step for any school district’s athletes looking to play.

With the PIAA giving discretion to local school districts to make the choice to play or not to play, Whitehall’s board decided to stay the course.

“Our board didn’t want anything changed and is allowing us to proceed,” said Whitehall athletic director Bob Hartman. “That was the consensus and it was good for us, but we’ll have to see if we need to find teams to play.”

That will be the next predicament for local athletes, coaches and athletic directors - will superintendents allow their respective districts to play sports?

EPC athletic directors are reportedly set to meet on Thursday to discuss scheduling for the fall and you would think that a decision on whether respective schools are in or out of the fall sports scene would be made sooner than later.

Hartman has already prepared for the scenario where EPC schools bow out for the fall.

“That’s certainly something we’ve thought about,” he said, “but I’m not really sure what’s going to happen. I’m sure the PIAA doesn’t want us taking much longer on making this decision either.”

Bethlehem Catholic and Central Catholic are rumored to be two other schools in the EPC committed to playing, but the list may be short.

In contacting various coaches throughout the EPC, a mixed bag of replies ensued.

There is heavy speculation that many schools in the conference will scrap playing in the fall.

While some coaches remain optimistic, one high profile coach, who requested anonymity, wasn’t so sure.

“It doesn’t look good as of now,” said the source. “It obviously could change, but I get a bad vibe with some of the conversations that have taken place.”

One coach in another major school district expressed optimism that they would be allowed to play, but could pressure from districts electing not to play in the fall have an affect on other districts?

“That’s what I’m worried about,” another coach said, “because everything I’m hearing is that some of the superintendents [of bigger school districts in the conference] are really pushing to not play.”

The Press reached out to Bethlehem Area School District superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy on Tuesday morning for comment on his thoughts about playing in the fall, but he was unavailable for comment due to being in a Zoom meeting with teachers.

Liberty athletic director Fred Harris expressed that rumors were false about BASD not playing fall sports when asked last week.

But as we’ve all seen over the past year with sports, things change on a daily basis. Last week’s vote by the PIAA may have been a win for many, but the battle on the front lines of schools districts continue.

Pressure from parents will mount and the balancing act of opening safely will be paramount.

With sports in the Colonial League and EPC set to play in less than a month, here we are still searching for answers.