Better late than never.

After months of uncertainty this summer and a two-week frenzy this month during which the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association and Governor Tom Wolf found themselves divided on whether or not to go ahead with fall sports, we received our answer last Friday.

That answer — a resounding 25-5 vote to proceed with fall sports — delivered the good news athletes and coaches (and sportswriters, too) across the Keystone State had been hoping for since offseason workouts began and ended a delay to the start of the fall season, which had already been pushed back two weeks.

It certainly wasn’t an easy road to get here. After teams had conducted offseason workouts this summer, Wolf made a “strong recommendation” on Aug. 6 that youth and recreational sports in the state not be held until after Jan. 1. That came four days prior to the start of football heat acclimatization workouts at high schools in the state.

The PIAA, of course, responded by delaying the start to fall seasons by two weeks so it could meet with Wolf. That meeting, though, gave the PIAA little reason to believe Wolf would change his mind, and in fact, it left the PIAA with the sense that Wolf didn’t base his decision on data derived from Pennsylvania.

So last Friday, the PIAA voted to go against Wolf’s wishes and begin the fall campaign anyway. It marked a drastic change from how the PIAA had dealt with Covid-19 to that point, as the organization had followed Wolf’s orders throughout the process.

Friday, though, was a different story, and now we’re just weeks away from local teams taking the field, so long as everything goes according to plan.

But, as it has been since this pandemic began in March, there are still plenty of questions to be answered.

FIRST, THE decision to move ahead with fall sports does not guarantee that every school district will actually do so.

In fact, plenty of school districts had opted out even before Friday’s decision, and it’s probably safe to assume some more will continue to trickle in this week.

Second, what does that mean for the postseason? If enough schools — or entire PIAA districts, for that matter — drop out, how can the PIAA reasonably consider crowning a state champion? Already, some usual contenders — namely schools in the Harrisburg and Philadelphia areas — have dropped out and are looking into spring seasons. Can the PIAA really call this fall’s champion the top team in the state in that case? Likely not.

Still, the PIAA noted it is still intending to hold playoffs, at least for now.

Which brings us to question No. 3: What of the schools that don’t play this fall?

The PIAA didn’t really discuss much about those schools, but executive director Dr. Robert Lombardi did say the PIAA will monitor the number of schools that drop out of fall in favor of a spring season, and mentioned that there could be two “fall” seasons if needed to allow for regions that don’t play this autumn to have a shot after the new year.

Also, what of parents and spectators? Right now the ban is still in effect, but what happens, God forbid, if a player from a visiting team gets seriously injured but his parents couldn’t be there to go to a hospital an hour or further away?

Surely, there is some sort of compromise Wolf’s office can make with the PIAA to at least allow parents/guardians to attend.

And perhaps the biggest question that still remains is what happens if/when a player tests positive? What are the protocols in place should a football player test positive the day after a Friday night game on the road?

Schools have in place their health and safety plans to return to athletics, but will the PIAA be able to hold full seasons to justify a postseason if teams have to continually shut down for two weeks?

The PIAA has already acknowledged it may not get an entire fall season in, but what are the plans for small numbers of positives that are surely going to pop up as we venture into the season?

These are all questions that will certainly get answered at some point, just because each of these scenarios are liable to come up as we move forward.

In the meantime, let’s all do our best to follow safety protocol to make sure these kids can safely keep playing the sports they love.

(Joel Whetzel, a Bradford Era sportswriter, can be reached at jwhetzel@bradfordera.com.)