Keystone State Games joins list of canceled summer sporting events

For more than three decades, athletes of all ages from the Pittsburgh region have tested themselves against the best in the state at the Keystone State Games Festival of Sports and PA Senior Games.

However, those events will not take place this summer as both have been canceled by organization officials in the midst of the ongoing guidelines and safety measures enacted in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

James Costello, executive director of Keystone State Games, Inc., said Wednesday in a statement that the organization’s “priority is the safety and well-being of our game participants, sponsors and volunteers, and we believe this is the best decision.”

This year’s Keystone State Games and PA Senior Games were to take place in Luzerne County from July 22 to Aug. 2. Since its inception in the early 1980s, Keystone State Games, Inc., has hosted at its events more than 500,000 participants in all age groups.

For those who have already registered and paid for the late-July events, Costello said the reimbursement process has begun.

Costello said planning will continue to potentially stage several Keystone State Games and PA Senior Games activities in the fall.

Those events include a senior sports festival and health and fitness expo, a ice hockey invitational tournament, virtual 5K and 10K runs, a high school baseball showcase and championship events for pickleball and golf.

Details and updates on all of the events the organization hopes to have will be posted on the organization’s Facebook page and also at keystonegames.org.