Good Morning Skyline,

The Lancaster Summer Swim League (LSSL) has sent out an email last night regarding this summer season. Here is what they have to say:

"As you will recall from our May 1 update to the league, we identified May 22 as the date by which we would make a decision regarding the upcoming season. The board met via Zoom this evening, and we made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 LSSL season. We reached this decision with the following key points in mind:

• Eight teams have officially notified the board that they are canceling their seasons, and we believe at least two more are close to doing the same

• The commonwealth has not issued any specific guidance regarding pool openings or operations in counties that are coded red, yellow, or green for that matter, and we are not sure when such guidance might be made available. However, the commonwealth has said definitively that organized sports are prohibited during both the red and yellow phase of re-opening in the commonwealth.

• The two major leagues covering Cumberland, Dauphin and York counties both canceled their summer seasons earlier this month

• As we said previously, if the league decided to cancel the season, that would not prevent individual teams from doing whatever they are ultimately allowed to do this summer (daily practices, intra-squad meets, virtual or other “friendly’s” with other teams that organize for the summer, etc.). If a team is able to get kids in the water for some level of activity at some point this summer, not having additional league restrictions will actually make things much easier for these teams.

In addition, we want to assure the teams that were planning to host our 2020 divisional and all league championship meets, that they will be first in line to host these events in the 2021 season.

Again, we are incredibly grateful for the input all of you have provided over the last several weeks, and we know this decision is another frustrating disappointment caused by the coronavirus pandemic. We certainly wish there could have been a different outcome.

Of course, if you have any questions about anything, please let us know. Otherwise, we hope you all stay healthy and safe throughout the summer season.

Lancaster Summer Swim League Board http://summerswimming.org" What does this mean for Skyline? Coach Barb and I spoke late last night and we would love to have a season with our team and still be able to practice and maybe hold some intra-squad meets. But we are not able to tell you at this point what that may look like. We must wait and see what MT Parks and Rec decides on if and when the pools are opening and what their safety guidelines may be. Especially where our team is concerned. In addition, we must still adhere to the CDC guidelines and any state guidelines that are set out. We want to be with our Skyline families, but we also want our Skyline families to stay safe and healthy. Coach Barb, Jackie, the Skyline Board and myself will be meeting soon to try and have some plans in place if/when we are allowed to practice at our pool. Again, we do not know what this may look like, but we want you to know that we would love to be able to see our Skyline families. Thank you so much for being so understanding through all of this. I know how disappointing this is. Believe me, as much as I wanted our final swim team experience to be a "normal" summer this summer, I also know how important it is to stay safe and healthy. Skyline has been a part of my family for eleven seasons. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions, ideas on how we can still honor our swimmers this summer (even if we cannot swim as a team) or to just say Hi. Thank you, Samantha Besnoff, Skyline Co-President, Skyline Parent Board