The Van Wert County Courthouse

Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

OHSAA games to go on without most fans

Van Wert independent sports

COLUMBUS — Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced Tuesday afternoon that starting Wednesday, all indoor sporting events in Ohio, including high school, collegiate and professional sports, shall continue without most spectators in attendance as Ohio seeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19.

“It’s not something that anyone enjoys talking about,” Governor DeWine said. “I certainly don’t enjoy saying it, nor envisioning sports events without spectators.”

“This will be a very difficult time for our schools and fans, but we cannot ignore the directive of the Governor,” OHSAA Executive Director Jerry Snodgrass said. “We are pleased that our tournaments can continue and we will soon determine who can attend. However, we can already say that it will most likely be no more than the immediate family of the student-athletes participating in the event.”

Boys basketball regional tournament games scheduled for Tuesday night can proceed with fans as normal. The OHSAA will announce Wednesday morning how the tournaments will proceed moving forward, but it appears that each student-athlete participating in basketball, wrestling or hockey will be able to have four family members present.

More information will be released as soon as possible, including the process for tickets already sold, refunds and what kind of media coverage will be permitted at the state tournaments. DeWine is recommending that media members be allowed to cover regionals and state tournament games.

The OHSAA girls basketball state tournament begins Thursday at St. John Arena, the wrestling state tournament begins Friday at the Schottenstein Center and the ice hockey state tournament begins Saturday morning at Nationwide Arena.

POSTED: 03/10/20 at 2:46 pm. FILED UNDER: Sports