COVID-19 Pandemic Continues To Play Havoc With Sports Locally, Nationally And Internationally, School Closings Upset Opening Of Spring Seasons

The worldwide COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic continued to disrupt sporting events in the area, the nation and the world as more events were either postponed or cancelled on Friday.

Especially hard hit locally were the start of the spring sporting seasons, as Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker late Friday ordered all public and private schools in the state to be closed from Mar. 17-30 in an effort to keep the virus from spreading. As of Sunday, the number of confirmed cases rose to 93.

The Girls Metro Cup Showcase soccer tournament along with the Illinois Prep Baseball Report Kickoff tournament, in which Edwardsville was slated to host some games and a number of area teams were to play in, were both cancelled on Friday. Also, all six Mississippi Valley Conference schools, including Triad, Civic Memorial and Jersey, will not practice nor play games while the school shutdown in in progress.

Also cancelled were the Edwardsville indoor track meet set for Principia College in Elsah, along with the Jersey Winter Thaw indoor meet, also set for Principia College, on Saturday. Also cancelled was the Illinois Top Times indoor meet, set for Mar. 27-28 at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington.

The Illinois High School Association, which cancelled the remainder of the boys basketball playoffs for the first time ever in the 112-year history of the event, has yet to decide on the fate of the spring sports tournaments in baseball, softball, girls soccer, boys and girls track and boys volleyball. All practices and games during the two-week shutdown have been cancelled. In addition, the IHSA did issue a reminder that any athlete who plays a school sport, and either practices or plays with an off-season traveling or select team during the period may lose his or her eligibility to play on their high school teams.

Nationally, two major events scheduled for April --- The Masters golf tournament at August National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., scheduled for Apr. 9-12, and the Boston Marathon, set for Apr. 20 --- were both postponed. The Boston Marathon, the world's most important race of its kind, was rescheduled for Sept. 14, while the board of Augusta National has yet to set rescheduling dates for The Masters.

The world of American and world motor racing has also been affected by the pandemic. NASCAR on Friday announced that its next two races --- this Sunday at Atlanta and Mar. 22 at Homestead, Fla. --- have been postpones, as have all IndyCar racing through the month of April. The Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, scheduled for Sunday, has officially been cancelled, and the tour's next two races, set for Bahrain and Vietnam, have been postponed.

In world soccer, the top two divisions in French soccer, Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, have been suspended for the next two weeks, as has play in all four division of English league soccer, including the Premier League, the SkyBet Championship second division, and both Leagues One and Two, the third and fourth tiers of English soccer. The governing body of European soccer, UEFA, has ordered the suspension of play in both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, the two major club competitions in Europe, and will also meet on Tuesday to decide whether or not to postpone the Euro 2020 championship tournament, the second biggest tournament in the world, right behind the FIFA World Cup. The Euros are scheduled for June and July throughout the continent, with the semifinals and final scheduled for Wembley Stadium in London.

On Sunday, it was announced that the Mexican first division soccer league, Liga MX, would suspend play due to the pandemic, and the East Coast Hockey League, in which some NHL teams have farm clubs in, announced the cancellation of the remainder of its season. It was also reported that the NBA G League, the developmental league for the NBA, may also cancel the remainder of its season.

Also, it was announced that the City of St. Louis, along with St. Louis County and St. Charles County in Missouri, have temporarily banned any public gatherings with more than 50 people. All schools in both St. Louis City and Jefferson County in Missouri will be closed, starting Tuesday, and continuing until Apr. 3. All sporting events and extracurricular activities have also been cancelled. The Schnucks grocery store chain also announced that they will have reduced hours for each of its stores, with 24-hour stores now closing at midnight, and other stores closing nightly at 10 p.m. Ameren, the St. Louis area's electric company on both sides of the Mississippi River, announced on Saturday that it will suspend collecting late fees and disconnections of service for non-payment of bills through May 1.

In some positive news, many star NBA players, including Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Hornets, have pledged $100,000 for a fund to assist arena workers financially while the league is shut down during the pandemic. Other players in both the NBA and NHL are stepping up to help arena workers with financial aid, and other owners in both leagues have pledged to pay workers through at least the end of March.

In updated statistics from the World Health Organization, there are now 164,837 confirmed cases in 146 countries and territories around the world, with 6.470 deaths. In the United States, there are now a total of 1,678 confirmed cases, including two in Missouri.

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