Taconic Girls Soccer, Pittsfield and Taconic Football Games Postponed

PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- As of Thursday afternoon, the Pittsfield Public Schools Athletic Department, in partnership with The City of Pittsfield Department of Health, extended the pause of athletic activities associated with the following high school athletic teams: Pittsfield High football and Taconic High girls soccer.

 

All scheduled in-person team activities for these two teams have been paused throughout the remainder of the weekend. This includes the postponement of the Taconic girls soccer and Pittsfield football games scheduled from April 1 through April 4.

 

Through initial contact tracing, local positive COVID-19 case developments have been determined to potentially have direct connections, and/or indirect connections, with participating members of the teams listed above. 

 

On Wednesday, the Pittsfield Public Schools and DPH were notified that a current Taconic student with direct ties to the Taconic girls soccer program tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, necessary protocols and precautions are being followed with the health and safety of all Taconic girls soccer stakeholders in mind.

 

As of today, the Pittsfield Public Schools and DPH are not aware of any positive COVID-19 cases with direct ties to current members of the PHS football program. 

 

However, on Wednesday and Thursday, the Pittsfield Public Schools and DPH were notified of multiple confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in the community with direct ties to immediate family members of current participants in the PHS football program.

 

Given the evolving circumstances, given the need to continue contact tracing protocols as additional positive cases have been confirmed, and with the goal of minimizing potential risks as the process of following established contact tracing protocols are completed, all in-person activities associated with the teams listed above have been paused.

 

As of now, in-person team activities for the Taconic girls soccer and PHS football teams are scheduled to resume on Monday, April 5, at 3 p.m. - pending the completion of contact tracing and testing protocols.

 

Per previous communications, football activities at Taconic High School were cancelled on Wednesday, March 31.  

 

Following the completion of contact tracing protocols tied to those circumstances, in-person activities for the Taconic football team resumed Thursday afternoon.  

 

However, in collaboration with the Taconic football team’s scheduled opponent, as well as the Berkshire County High School Athletic League, the Taconic football game scheduled for Saturday, April 3, has been postponed.

 

The health and safety of our student-athletes and families remains the top priority of the Pittsfield Public Schools Athletic Department.  

 

Furthermore, the health and safety of the student-athletes and families representing the neighboring schools and communities that PHS and Taconic compete against, also remains a top priority.

 

For privacy reasons, we cannot share more specific details about the status of any individual positive COVID case developments . 

 

However, we can confirm that any individuals categorized as a potential “close contact” have been, and will continue to be, notified directly by school and/or public health administrators as the contact tracing protocols continue to be followed for each documented positive COVID-19 case in our community.