by Mike Pavlichko
On the heels of Carteret’s decision last week to cancel all early Winter season sports – with the exception of wrestling, slated to start practicing in March – Perth Amboy has become the second Middlesex County district in less than a week to do so, cancelling all sports in the NJSIAA’s “Season 2.”
In a letter to the community posted on the Perth Amboy district website Monday, Superintendent David Roman announced that due to an increase in COVID cases in the community, the district would extend is remote learning until the end of the third marking period, which ends on Tuesday, April 20th.
As part of that announcement, Roman wrote that “due to the uncertainty of this pandemic, and the health risk it may case to our students and staff at this time, all winter sports will be cancelled.”
He added, “We will re-assess the status of spring sports as we get closer to that time.”
Carteret and Piscataway had cancelled fall sports this school year, but while Carteret will remain on the sidelines in the winter – with the exception, so far, of wrestling – Piscataway is set to play.
Perth Amboy played sports in the fall.
Some districts, like Old Bridge and North Brunswick, have been holding outdoor basketball practices to lessen time spend indoors and attempt to mitigate the risks of COVID transmission in such settings.
Middlesex has delayed practice by a week to January 19th, meaning their basketball programs would miss the first week of the season, which starts January 26th, in order to continue their preseasons.