The Colonial League met on Tuesday morning and voted 7-6 to delay the start of the winter sports season until Monday, Jan. 11.

Schools voting to delay the start of the league season were Northern Lehigh, Catasauqua, Bangor, Southern Lehigh, Wilson, Saucon Valley and Moravian Academy. Schools voting to keep the original start date (Dec. 11) were Palmerton, Northwestern, Palisades, Pen Argyl, Salisbury and Notre Dame.

Schools will be allowed to schedulenonleague games prior to Jan. 11 if their individual school districts allow.

The league then voted to delete the first two playing dates in boys and girls basketball, reducing the league schedule from 12 games to 10 games for most schools with a couple of schools playing 11 games.

Because not every school will play the same number of games, the league voted to increase the basketball playoffs from six teams to eight teams.

In wrestling, the first three scheduled dates for matches will be deleted, cutting the original schedule from 11 matches to eight matches.

The league also voted on recommendations from both Lehigh Valley Health Network and St. Luke’s University Health Network to allow no spectators for any winter sports events with the exception of senior parents for Senior Nights or for special accolades (such as 1,000-point scorers or 100-win milestones for the individual sports).

The league did allow for the possible amending of the spectator rule based on a change in guidance from the health providers or the governor’s office. The Colonial League vote comes on the heels of last week’s decision by the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference decision to delay the start of its season until Friday, Jan. 15.