Meriden to permit football this fall
Ruling comes despite state and local health departments having suggested otherwise
Despite recommendations from state officials and the local health department, the city of Meriden will permit high school football to be played in some capacity this fall with certain COVID-19 mitigation strategies in place.
“While the City does not recommend that game play occur, which is the current CT DPH and local health department recommendation, we recognize that high school football is going to occur and wewish to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 exposure,” wrote city manager Tim Coon in a memo dated Sept. 23.
The decision to cancel a full-contact high school football season was reaffirmed on Sept. 16 after the state Department of Public Health advised the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference to either cancel or postpone all high-risk fall sports activities. The ReOpen CT guidelines however have permitted high-risk sports to be played since July, and football teams across the state have looked to form private leagues or play as non-CIAC sanctioned club teams in an effort to circumvent the DPH recommendation.
Coon wrote in the memo that the city has been advised that high school football in Meriden will proceed as either a club program, or as an individual student choice sport for the fall and if allowed by CIAC, as a spring sport. The memo noted that the city does not have control over whether or not players participate in private leagues, which would likely play its games at sites outside of the city, and therefore will risk exposure to COVID-19.
Meriden will permit high school football game play with several requirements. If a player, coach, or individual associated with an opposing team that was deemed by the Director of Health and Human Services to have been exposed to the team tests positive for COVID-19, the entire team must quarantine for 14 days.
If the state’s positivity rate rises above 5%, game play will be halted. Game play will also be halted if the state decrees it must be.
“The national high school associations have said football this fall is a high risk activity, our Department of Public Health has said its a high risk activity,” Governor Ned Lamont said at a news briefing on Thursday. “But look, I’m being consistent in the sense that at the end of the day, we’re going to leave that decision up to the local jurisdiction, the superintendents and the coaches.
“But by the way, we are very strict. If we see flare ups just like we saw in Danbury, those schools can’t stay open.”
Additionally, teams must adhere to all ReOpen CT guidelines, as well as the Football Return to Action Plan, which says all games will be played at either Platt High, Maloney High or possibly Falcon Field, and that only parents will be allowed to attend. Players will be required to wear a mask or face shield while playing, and visiting teams will need to agree to these rules prior to scheduling a game.
The city’s decision comes weeks after the Meriden Raiders, the city’s youth football program, was forced to suspend its fall season after multiple COVID-19 cases caused 62 people to quarantine. That same week, a Maloney High football player tested positive for COVID19 after attending a protest with over a thousand players, coaches and state lawmakers at the state Capitol building.