By Mike Mayer, Webmaster
I have been following high school football in Delaware County since 1995 and have audio broadcasted over 250 high school football games in that time. I am always excited when August comes around and I get to focus on the start of a new football season. As I watch the U.S. reeling from COVID-19 infections and deaths I am also having trouble dealing with the question of deciding whether we should play football or not.
I have noticed that all the plans that are being made are in the hope of preventing infection but there seems to be no firm plan as to what to do if infection occurs.
It would be wonderful if the efforts of schools would be 100% effective and they prevent the virus from infiltrating our schools. So far no one has been able to accomplish that. Even the professional sports leagues, with substantially more funding and an ability with total containment for their teams (NBA and NHL), is showing gaps in prevention. Will school sports follow closely behind? It seems unrealistic to believe that we would begin to play football and not expect COVID-19 to appear. Yet, I see no definitive plan as to what actions to take.
If we acknowledge that infection is bound to occur at some level, then the question is how many infections and/or deaths need to occur before we decide we have to cancel the season? Some schools may feel one to three cases is acceptable while others may feel five to ten cases is acceptable. How about the death of an athlete or coach during the season due to the virus?
