COLUMBUS — A rough ending to the school year became a little more difficult for Ohio high school athletes on Tuesday.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association officially announced the cancellation of all spring sports through a state-wide news release.

The OHSAA informed member schools on Monday after Gov. Mike DeWine announced earlier in the day that school facilities will remain closed for the remainder of the academic year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

OHSAA executive director Jerry Snodgrass sent a memo to school administrators. The OHSAA previously stated that spring sports would be canceled if school facilities were closed. In addition to facilities not being opened, the OHSAA said it would be impossible to ensure the health and safety of all individuals and support personnel involved in practices and contests.

“As we have stated in our previous communications, today’s announcement by Gov. DeWine to close schools for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year also will now result in the cancellation of OHSAA-sponsored spring sports seasons including tournaments,” Snodgrass said Monday.

The OHSAA’s mandatory no-contact period for all interscholastic sports remained in effect until at least May 3, and that could be extended.

Coaches and school administrators are allowed to have non-mandatory electronic and online communications with their student-athletes. The closure of school facilities includes all athletic facilities for any training, practice or competition.

Snodgrass empathized with everyone involved.

“I’ve heard from so many people who have said ‘You really need to understand what this means to our kids,’ ” said Snodgrass during an interview Monday. “I’m a parent. I was a coach. I grew up every day as a player and a coach wanting to play high school sports and get to the state tournament. So I do think I understand that. I also have to go with the fact that my number-one concern that I have, over everything, is the health and safety of everyone involved. It’s not just our student-athletes. It’s the parents, coaches, umpires, officials, the scorekeepers. All those things enter into this. It’s a tough decision, and it’s one that I and all the other executive directors of the other states never thought we would have to do. Never did I think this would be the case, but I’ve tried to be as prepared as I could every step of the way.”

Snodgrass also addressed the summer and start of fall sports in the interview.

“July is a very physical month for our student-athletes entering fall sports,” he said, “so we have already started looking at, if this continues through the summer, we’ll have the potential of having a lot of kids who haven’t had the physical activity that they would normally have going into a fall season. So for the health and safety of everyone, we have to look at the acclimation periods going into the fall, if that happens. We have to be prepared for that. We’re also talking about that, if this does go through the summer, what is the likelihood that a student can get in to get a physical (exam). We have a sport medicine advisory group that is looking at that. They are looking at all aspects such as whether artificial surfaces need to be treated. We are relying on the advice of experts in our decision making.”

The OHSAA said it will continue to update throughout the spring and summer regarding any adjustments to OHSAA off-season regulations, academic eligibility standards, sports medicine updates and more.