Fall Sports at Tech Schools Get a Pass

The news early Wednesday wasn’t very good for the fate of sports at the state's technical schools.

Specifically fall sports.

Citing the timing of the State Employee Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) vote on the clarified concessions plan, which is not expected to be completed before Aug. 18, Technical School System Superintendent Patricia Ciccone said during the State Board of Education meeting the vote would be too late for the fall sports programs.

There were deadlines for committing to schedules that had to be met, and Ciccone also was concerned for the safety of the athletes, who were increasingly at a disadvantage having already had their supervised training and conditioning cut into.

“The later we go, the less opportunity there is for schools and school districts that play us within our league or outside our league to be able to include us in their schedules,” Ciccone told Patch . “Fall sports are iffy the later it gets.”

Ciccone knew then that time was of the essence.

"We’ll do everything we can to bring it back for the fall," she said, "but in some cases, we may be skirting the edge of the pond."

On Wednesday morning, fall sports fell in. Regardless of the SEBAC vote, football, soccer, cross country and girls volleyball were canceled for this year.

Within hours, that changed, according to multiple news outlets.

CT Mirror reported late Wednesday that Acting Education Commissioner George Coleman announced an agreement was reached with Gov. Dannel Malloy to go ahead with the fall sports season. It will be up to the State Board of Education to find the money elsewhere in its budget to fund fall sports.

The Hartford Courant also reported on the reprieve as did WVIT.com.

According to Coleman, the cost for fall sports is $989,000. Ciccone said sports as a whole represents about $3 million toward the budget.

Winter and spring sports, however, may still be cut depending on how the unions vote, and the future of all sports programs remain at risk.

As a result of Wednesday’s sudden and unexpected reversal, the East Hampton-Vinal Tech football coop, known as the BellHawks, can proceed with its inaugural varsity season.

East Hampton-Vinal Tech 2011 Schedule

Aug. 27: Wilcox Tech (scrimmage), 10 a.m., at Vinal

Sept. 3: Rocky Hill Jamboree, 10 a.m., at Rocky Hill High School

Sept. 9: Abbott Tech (scrimmage), 4:30 p.m., at Vinal

Sept. 17: Cromwell, 6:30 p.m., at Palmer Field (Middletown)

Sept. 23: Old Saybrook/Westbrook, 6:30 p.m., at Palmer Field

Oct. 1: Nonnewaug, 1:30 p.m., at Palmer Field

Oct. 7: Haddam-Killingworth, 6:30 p.m., at Haddam-Killingworth

Oct. 14: Coginchaug, 6:30 p.m., at Palmer Field

Oct. 21: North Branford , 6:30 p.m., at North Branford

Oct. 29: Lewis Mills, 2 p.m., at Muzzy Field (Bristol)

Nov. 5: Hyde Leadership, 1 p.m., at Bowen Field (New Haven)

Nov. 11: Morgan , 6:30 p.m., at Palmer Field

Nov. 18: Valley Regional/Old Lyme, 6:30 p.m., at Valley Regional