Friday in VarsityXtra
Mike White poses a question for the times: What’s the point of masks if they’re not worn properly?
Some high school boys and girls basketball teams in the WPIAL are wearing masks during games because their school board requires them. But after seeing some of these masked teams, a question has arisen:
Are they really masks or chin diapers?
Maybe school boards that require their teams to wear masks during contests because of COVID-19 concerns should rethink their stance because this mask wearing with many teams is a joke. I’m not here to argue whether wearing a mask in games should or shouldn’t be mandated. My point is, what is the point when the mask is simply around the chin the entire game? Can we just forget the charade and let them take off the dang thing?
Now, let’s back up and explain the mask ordeal in Pennsylvania high school sports.
Basically, the PIAA told schools in December to follow guidelines from Gov. Wolf’s office and the state health department, which recommend masks be worn indoors. However, those guidelines also suggest it is up to each school to determine whether an exception can be made for sports teams in competitions. Some schools are following guidelines from health organizations that say masks can be taken off if they impede breathing during vigorous activity.
Well, I’ve seen games in person and numerous pictures from games where the mask wearing is comical — on boys and girls players. Many of the masks simply hang around the chin, exposing the nose and mouth.
I don’t blame the players or coaches, either. Wearing masks while doing drills at practice and sitting on the bench in games is one thing. But wearing a mask and covering up both the nose and mouth while playing a basketball game can be more than a hindrance. Most coaches and players who are ordered to wear masks during games also don’t want to comment on the issue in fear of going against their school’s wishes.
But there is no enforcement to “mask up.” Game officials aren’t the mask police. It’s not their job to enforce “masks up.” So, who can blame a player for letting the mask hang around the chin? It’s kind of hard to keep a mask over your mouth and nose anyway when running up and down the court. And don’t think for a second that it doesn’t affect breathing. I know of a seventhgrade girls game involving two WPIAL schools where a player was wearing a mask, had trouble breathing and fainted on the court. She was fine minutes later.
Some schools in the WPIAL actually won’t allow their teams to play an opponent who doesn’t wear a mask. And some teams required to wear masks do indeed keep the masks covering their mouths and sometimes their noses. Nice.
But the wearing of masks is an issue — and so is wearing them properly. If you don’t believe it, consider the girls basketball game between Brentwood and Shady Side Academy on Saturday. Shady Side Academy is one school that only plays opponents who wear masks. Brentwood was wearing masks, but Shady Side’s coaches were complaining during
the game that Brentwood’s players often had their masks down. But again, it’s not the game officials job to enforce “masks up” because there is no basketball rule for it. Shady Side Academy eventually stopped playing in the third quarter. Walked out. Brentwood was leading at the time, 42-18.
WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman is aware of the Brentwood-Shady Side Academy game and said Shady Side most likely will forfeit the game. Usually, the WPIAL will penalize a team in some way if it walks out in the middle of a game. But not during these COVID-19 times.
“Whenever a school has a mask policy, they have it for a reason,” Scheuneman said. “We allow schools to make their own decisions on what they feel is safe and what their mask policy is. We wouldn’t punish them for following their own mask policy.”
But this mask issue isn’t going away. It’s bound to become an issue with some team — or teams — come playoff time.
I understand, at least partly, the point of some school boards who say “how can we force kids to wear a mask in the school day, but say it’s OK to play a game without a mask?” But directors of the PIAA and WPIAL have pointed out more than a few times that they have yet to receive a report — from basketball or football season — where the COVID-19 virus was transmitted to an opposing team during a contest.
I can’t wait to see what happens come playoff time for these schools that won’t let their teams play an opponent that doesn’t wear masks. Remember, for the playoffs, the rule is a team will forfeit if it doesn’t want to play because of a mask issue. If a school board truly believes that their teams shouldn’t play opponents without masks during the regular season, good for them. Wouldn’t it be hypocritical to change their stance just for the playoffs? I want to see the school board that is willing to withstand the heat from parents if their kids have to forfeit a playoff game because of masks.
Mt. Lebanon is one school that does not permit their teams to play opponents who don’t wear masks. At a recent meeting, the Mt. Lebanon school board re-visited the issue but decided to continue the mask requirement for its players. However, when told the boys and girls basketball teams might have to forfeit a playoff game because of the mask issue … well, hold on for a second. The board said it might have to re-examine the issue come playoff time.
The Mt. Lebanon boys and girls teams are both ranked in the top five in WPIAL Class 6A by the Post-Gazette. Near the end of the mask discussion, one school board member actually asked Mt. Lebanon athletic director John Grogan if there was a chance that the basketball teams could be placed in a WPIAL playoff bracket with only teams that wear masks. Seriously.
Can’t you just see it? The WPIAL crowns two bas-ketball champions this year: The masked champion and the full-faced champion.