The Southwest Preparatory Conference is halting all sports until April 13 due to the coronavirus outbreak.
SPC Comissioner Bob Windham and Board Chair Jon Kellam sent a letter to the 17 member schools on Friday morning making the announcement. The current SPC sports that are being played include boys and girls lacrosse, baseball, softball, track & field and tennis.
"At this point we are considering a number of options for make-up of the canceled games/matches or a possible seeding process for the spring tournaments if a longer period of cancellations render make-up games impossible," the letter stated. "We are exploring options for north zone and south zone mini-tournaments for seeding the spring tournament if extended cancellations make this our only option.
"We know there are specific sports such as Boys' Lacrosse and track qualifications where we will need to look at specific adjustments (more on these sports soon)."
FOR THE FULL SPC LETTER TO MEMBER SCHOOLS - CLICK HERE
In the Houston-area; Houston Awty, The John Cooper School, Episcopal, Kinkaid and St. John's compete in the SPC.
"I do [agree with the decision] and let's be honest if one school said we will continue to play, they are not going to be able to play against anybody," The John Cooper School Athletic Director John Hoye told VYPE in a phone interview. "It's kind of a domino effect, where everybody is on the same page. If you choose not to be, you're not going to be playing anyways."
The first SPC Spring Championship was supposed to be boys lacrosse April 17-18 at St. Andrew's in Austin, followed by golf on April 27-28 at Woodforest Golf Club in The Woodlands. The golf championships were going to be hosted by The John Cooper School. Dates had not been set yet for tennis, track & field, baseball, softball or girls lacrosse.
"With the fluid and uncertain situations we face, we can assure everyone we will strive for a fair and equitable way to seed and conduct our spring tournaments if, in future weeks, it looks feasible and safe to conduct our Spring SPC tournaments this school year," the letter stated.
In the letter to the member schools the target date for return to athletic activities is April 13 but canceling the rest of the season could be on the table.
"I think that's a possibility with everything else, I mean you see what the NCAA did where they are suspending all their sports," Hoye said. "When you look at the No. 1 priority for the schools, we want to make sure that what we're doing isn't hindering the amount of learning, teaching and education that the kids can get because of the spread of the virus."
VYPE will continue to update this story as we gather more information.