by Mike Pavlichko
High school basketball – already delayed more than a month due to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases in New Jersey – isn’t expected to be affected by Governor Phil Murphy’s announcement that hes shutting down indoor scholastic sports through January 2.
Back on November 19th, the NJSIAA announced it would delay all sports besides ice hockey – mainly because rink space had already been booked – with basketball, fencing and bowling starting play January 26; swimming and winter track and field beginning February 16; and gymnastics, girls volleyball and wrestling to start March 16. Hockey would have started January 4th.
But the Governor’s announcement Monday would force hockey later, since practice would have begun December 14, and now the earliest it can start is January 2, about three weeks later.
The ban on indoor sports starts at 6 am this Saturday, December 5. It affects “all indoor youth and adult sports, including both practices and competitions,” said the governor. College and professional teams are not covered by the ban and can continue practice and games.
“This aligns, by the way, with both he efforts of the NJSIAA, and those of our neighboring states,” added Murphy.
Below, see what Murphy had to say at Monday’s press conference regarding indoor sports: