An interscholastic athletic policy that would enable Tamaqua area youth to practice and play in games on Sundays has been rebuffed.

On a 7-2 vote, the school board on Tuesday rejected passing the first reading of the policy. Directors Thomas Rottet and Mark Rother were in favor.As a result, the district will revert to its current policy, which does not allow practices on Sunday, and states that games can only be held on Sundays under extreme conditions.The board's vote comes one week after two-thirds of its auxiliary committee recommended approval of the first reading of the policy.Superintendent Ray Kinder previously said the objective was to prepare a policy to read that follows the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association rule.Kinder said those rules allow for practices between 2-8 p.m. on Sundays, and games only under extenuating circumstances such as weather or playoffs, with permission from the superintendent.He said it follows the six days of participation and one day of rest rule, while the rest are criteria the district added to the policy.However, Kinder said at that time games would not be regularly scheduled on a Sunday.Last month, he told the board the policy is an existing one that recognizes interscholastic athletics and provides guidance for their inclusion into the district.Kinder said policy states the superintendent can give permission for games on Sunday, but that the district's practice has been to ask the board for approval.He said at that time there were three options: Keep the policy as is and administration makes the decision; change it to let the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association rule take effect; or change the policy to reflect the current practice, which is the board making the decision.Kinder said at that time that if practices were allowed on Sundays, it would become a more regular occurrence, though games would still be more rare.The involvement in athletic contests that occur on Sundays has been a point of conversation at recent board meetings.In December, the board voted 6-3 to allow the junior high wrestling team's involvement at the annual District XI Coaches Association tournament Feb. 18-19.Because one of the days the tournament falls on is a Sunday, approval was needed for the team's participation at the tournament.