Keep high school sports shut down

The California Interscholastic Federation should abandon any notion of allowing high schools to start football practice Dec. 14 with the intent of playing games in January.

The latest COVID- 19 surge in Yolo County and throughout the state makes the risk far too great for players, coaches and their families.

It’s one thing for the NFL to proceed with its schedule. The players are all adults, the minimum salary is $ 610,000, each team is spending about $ 1.5 million for daily tests, and players have the resources to readily quarantine themselves if necessary.

But college and high school football are different.

NCAA member schools make in the neighborhood of $ 7 billion in television revenue over the course of a season. Few of the players live at home, reducing the risk that they will pass the coronavirus to parents, grandparents and other at- risk friends and relatives. But college sports’ dirty little secret is that players can still lose their scholarships after being hurt or contracting a serious case of COVID- 19. Players often pay for their own insurance and are generally responsible for long- term care for illnesses sustained as a member of their team.

At least the vast majority of college teams have the ability to conduct frequent tests of players. Pac- 12 teams, for example, are being tested daily. But even then the risk is too great. UC Davis, for example, canceled both its men’s and women’s basketball games until further notice after Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed stayathome orders as another surge of cases sweeps across California and Yolo County implemented restrictions on sporting events

And unlike college, where tests can take place, high school players don’t have that luxury. They don’t have inhouse, trained medical staff members to help implement and enforce basic safety precautions. Every player or coach who contracts COVID- 19 will pose a potentially deadly threat to the families of every member of the team.

Those are some of the reasons, Yolo County basically shut down sports activities. It limited youth, adult recreational, collegiate and professional athletics to to drills and conditioning only, with physical distancing, and only outdoors. All competitive games, scrimmages, and similar activities that do not allow for physical distancing are not allowed.

Even people who want to work up a sweat are prohibited from doing so at a gym or fitness center. Gyms can remain open, but only outdoors and need to require face coverings at all times.

And let’s remember it’s just not athletes, and athletics that are restricted. Only outdoor gatherings are permitted. Restaurants and wineries can stay open, but only outdoors and people can’t even sit together at an outdoor table, unless they’re related.

Some might argue that these precautions are unnecessary. But there are about 200,000 new virus cases reported each day across the nation and around 2,000 deaths. And although we have heard numerous times that few people working out in a gyms contract the virus, does anyone really want to take the risk?

In Yolo County, people between and 17- and 25 years old, account for a number of new cases where as of Sunday night as of this writing, and there were 60 new cases recorded, bringing to 5,372 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic. We would report the number of cases statewide, but they will be outdated and would only serve to concern those who might seek hospital treatment, which are now being overwhelmed. Even in Yolo County, case loads are climbing.

Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, told the Southern California News Group’s Dan Albano that new guidelines will be coming “soon” for competition in high school and youth sports but those guidelines are useless if just one athlete gets sick.

The only acceptable guideline is to refrain from practices and games altogether until the pandemic threat is greatly reduced.

California has wisely put safety first and is one of only six states to have no fall sports for high school teams. Let’s keep it that way.

The latest COVID- 19 surge makes the risk far too great for players, coaches and families.