Special Olympics PA postpones Unified Bocce State Championships due to coronavirus concerns
Due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, or COVID-19, next week’s Unified Bocce State Championships in Hershey have been postponed — meaning Bald Eagle Area will have to wait a little longer to defend its state title.
The tournament, where teams are comprised of four high school students with special needs and four without, was officially postponed Monday when Special Olympics PA announced it was suspending “all training and competitive activities” through the end of the month. (Unified bocce is co-sponsored by both the PIAA and Special Olympics PA.)
According to the organization, the risks of the virus are heightened for both people with intellectual disabilities and the elderly, and the head office in Washington, D.C. recommended — after speaking with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — that such activities be suspended, at least temporarily.
A spokesperson acknowledged that the state tournament will be “re-evaluated” after March 31. It is not known at this point when, or if, the tournament will definitely be made up.
In the meantime, the Eagles are trying to treat practices as if states will just take another two weeks or so, from their originally scheduled dates of March 18-19.
“We did cut our practices back,” BEA coach Erica Milliron said, “but we are still practicing, we are fundraising, we are preparing. But we also know we won’t know anything for a couple weeks.”
Bellefonte and State College also field teams in the sport, which just started to gain steam in central Pennsylvania over the past two years. Bald Eagle Area won the state championship last season, and it won the regional tournament last week to again qualify for the state tournament.
However, the team that won this year’s regionals, BEA’s Blue Team, fell to BEA’s Gold Team last season in the regionals. So, although Bald Eagle Area is seeking its second straight state title, a new group of students was looking forward to the trip to Hershey.
“They wanted that so badly, so this was a very tough pill to swallow for a lot of them,” Milliron added. “They handled it like champs, accepted it and came here ready to work. But that was a tough blow.”
The number of presumptive positive coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania currently stands at 11, according to the state health department. As of Tuesday afternoon, Pennsylvania has eight confirmed COVID-19 cases in Montgomery County, and one each in Monroe, Delaware and Wayne counties.
According to Special Olympics PA, a recent case in the U.S. was also tied to a Special Olympics athlete.
There are no confirmed cases in Centre County.
This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 5:49 PM.
