Anyone who has taken glance at the news over this endless summer knows that a lot can happen in two weeks, which is about how long it is until the PIAA Board of Directors meeting on Aug. 21 that will, in all likelihood, determine whether or not there is a fall sports season in Pennsylvania or not in the year from hell, 2020. (What that season might eventually look like is another matter entirely. One way or the other, PIAA Executive Director Dr. Robert Lombardi and his staff are in a very difficult spot and have our sympathies.)
So what should happen in those two weeks? What can be done to help make sure that a) there is a season, and b) it’s a safe and successful one it does happen?
We have seven thoughts on the matter, big and small, for fans, for administrators, for athletes, for coaches, that we’ll share with you. We’d love to hear yours as well.
Don’t make it political. And don’t polarize.
Let’s try, just once, in this viciously divisive era where the choice of facial attire can spark fist fights and the slightest non-tribal step can cause indignant howling and end friendships, not to polarize Pennsylvania and make everything political.
People 100 percent in favor of playing fall sports are not reckless, ridiculous risk takers who want to infect every athlete, coach and staffer from Easton to Erie with COVID-19. People who are much more cautious about starting sports, or even not having them at all, are not heartless, grim Scrooges who hate sports, are acting from pure malice, and want to ruin kids’ lives. We’re all people of good faith and good intentions, acting on them in ways that may be different from you, from your neighbor, from your coach, from your administrator. Our goals are the same: what is best for our young men and women.
It won’t do the slightest good to verbally assault Gov. Wolf or state health authorities or PIAA chiefs or local school board members and administrators on social media or in e-mail or even in old-fashioned letters (if you can get one mailed, that is). Right now, we’re all sufficiently worn down, wore out or just worn by this year’s endless challenges; we don’t need another source of negativity or over-the-top posturing.
Be positive
So, instead of calling Gov. Wolf every name in the book, or the people who work for him, why not be positive? Write the governor a note about how much sports means to your son, your daughter, your niece, your nephew. Post articles on social media about sports success stories in the COVID-19 ERA. Compose letters to the editor, or op-eds, stressing the positive side of athletics and what it can mean in the community. If you feel the other way, stress your concern for health and safety and offer alternatives or work-arounds that, in your view, might be safe possibilities.
Be flexible
If there is a fall, this will not be a fall where “we’ve always done it that way” will be an effective argument. Everybody -- and we mean everybody -- will have to be ready to change previously-made plans on a moment’s notice. Discard notions of what’s ideal, or what should happen, and start thinking in terms of what can happen. Try and make everything happen that can, while being safe. For example, Easton-Phillipsburg football without fans will be better than no game at all. Embrace the possible.
Play-ING, not Play-OFFS
With any fall season certain to be shorter, the emphasis should be on getting as many athletes as much playing time as possible, not on endless weeks of playoffs for the elite teams. The NJSIAA tossed out state-level events entirely, and that could be a model for PIAA as well. If it were us, we’d suspend all league/conference playoffs entirely in team sports -- the regular season can crown a champion nicely, thank you -- and have very limited district playoffs with smaller fields. Allow teams to play independent games as deep into the season as they wish.
Think beyond the athlete
While the first concern must always be the young men and women who play the sports, we must also consider how to keep coaches, staff (especially custodial and maintenance) and administrators safe as well. Special attention must be paid to the safety of officials, who are often of an age where they could be more vulnerable to the virus.
Distant fans
Anything is possible, but it seems unlikely that the state will budge much on the 250-people limit for outdoor events (the indoor limit of 25 makes volleyball, it would appear, almost impossible). Most non-football events can be held under 250 without excluding too many parents, at least, though of course masking and social distancing will be required. Football, for the bigger schools, might well get near to 250 before one fan is admitted, and that’s not considering bands and cheerleaders. That will create major challenges. There may be innovative ways around such challenges.
Ignore the noise
This is a steal from Phillipsburg’s football program, but it’s terrific advice for the athletes for the time leading up to Aug. 21. Do what you can do, what you have been doing, work as hard as you can, pay no attention to the politics and the fussing. Be as ready as you can be to play the fall, so when it happens, you’ll be in the best situation possible, and, if it doesn’t, you know you’ll have done everything you could have and given your all. Isn’t that, ultimately, always what sports should be about, even the worst of times?
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Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com.
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August 08, 2020 at 08:00PM
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