Tamaqua area youth may eventually be able to practice athletics and play in games on Sundays.

Afterdiscussion on the subject, two-thirds of the school board's auxiliary committee on Tuesday recommended approval of the first reading of an interscholastic athletic policy.Directors Thomas Rottet and Mark Rother serve on the committee and recommended approval of the first reading of the policy. The third member of the committee, Director Bryan Miller, was not in attendance.Superintendent Ray Kinder said the objective was to prepare a policy to read that follows the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association rule.Kinder said the 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.It follows the six days of participation and one day of rest rule, he said. The rest are criteria the district added to the policy.Rottet said, "It's been part of their lives since their youth."Rottet said he believesnot being able to practice on Sundays putsthe teams at a competitive disadvantage.However, board President Larry Wittig said he doesn't believe not being able to practice on Sundays has put them at a competitive disadvantage."I don't buy it," Wittig said. "Has it really prevented us from going on (advancing)."Kinder said games would not be regularly scheduled on a Sunday.Assistant Superintendent Stephen Toth said that of all the school districts in the league, the vast majority of them have some form of Sunday participation.Tamaqua, along with just a few others, are the only ones that do not, Toth said."So, we're not the only religious nuts," Wittig said.The board is scheduled to vote on the first reading of the policy when it meets at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.Last month, Kinder told the board the policy is an existing one that recognizes interscholastic athletics and provides guidance for their inclusion into the district.He 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.Kinder 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.He 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, on a 6-3 vote, approved 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.