Updated at 9 p.m.
A week after Boston Public Schools announced it was going fully remote as cases of COVID-19 continue to rise across the city, the district has announced that athletics will also be suspended for the time being.
A spokesperson for BPS said in a statement to GBH News on Tuesday that the district has suspended all athletic activities until further notice as it has moved to fully remote learning and as the city deals with the coronavirus positivity rate.
The move impacts all competitions, practice and "any other organized physical activities." The spokesperson wrote that BPS will consider resuming athletics once the citywide positivity rate for COVID-19 is at or below 5% for two consecutive weeks.
According to MIAA guidelines released in August, soccer, cross country, gymnastics, field hockey, girls' volleyball, swimming and diving, golf and dance could take place this fall, but BPS had elected to only participate in cross country and golf.
Competitions were still going on as late as Monday, even after the district's move to remote learning.
The announcement makes a big impact on Boston Latin School, which had been participating in both cross country and golf.
Chris Blondin, one of the school's cross country coaches, said the move essentially cancels the season because there's not enough time left in the season to pick it back up.
He said the girls' varsity team had been having an undefeated season up to this point and that they were on pace to win a conference championship. The announcement did frustrate Blondin, but he said he tried to stay as positive as possible, given the circumstances.
"We were very grateful for what we did have," he said. "And I did get to work with my kids for six weeks. And that's time that I got to spend with them that was priceless."
