Alchesay High canceling fall sports due to pandemic
The Whiteriver Unified School District’s school board voted Wednesday night to cancel all fall sports because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Alchesay is the only high school in the district. Its football team went 8-3 last season, falling to Phoenix Christian in the first round of the 2A playoffs. The girls basketball team won state two years ago and boys basketball has been a perennial power, challenging for state titles.
WUSD superintendent Jennifer Plath sent this letter out to the community:
“It is with a lot of sadness that I announce all WUSD fall sports have been cancelled. I would like the community to know this was not a decision that was made lightly. There was a great deal of discussion about and consideration of the processes and resources that would be needed to ensure the health and safety of students, families and community while maintaining a fall sports schedule. In the end, current circumstances with COVID-19 transmission do not leave us confident that a fall sports schedule can accomplished safely. WUSD is carefully considering the recommendations from AIA in order to potentially phase in a winter sports schedule safely. Health conditions will continue to be monitored throughout the first quarter of school. And we will continue to evaluate the processes that need to be in place in order to make a decision about starting a winter sports schedule.”
Michael Tate, a board member who played football at Alchesay 11 years ago, said the board will examine in October what to do for the winter sports season when basketball is played.
Tate said the increased numbers of COVID-19 infections in the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation led to the decision. Last month, Ganado, which is on the Navajo reservation in northeastern Arizona, canceled its fall sports because of the pandemic. “We want to help mitigate,” Tate said. “We don’t want that number to continue to rise.”
Alchesay’s road games five hours away.
“The board felt with social distancing and CDC guideline recommendations it will be difficult to go forward (with fall sports),” Tate said. “For football, with 50 to 70 students on the team, including managers and coaches, with a big passenger bus, how are you going to space out six feet? Take four buses to our away games? Our district is short-handed with bus drivers. It’s hard to pull additional bus drivers for an away game.
“From my perspective, what I shared, I feel we shouldn’t be liable and put out students’ health and safety at risk. Not only ours but the opponents’ students and athletes.”
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Lacapa said one of the biggest factors is the current situation with COVID-19 in the White Mountain Apache community, where the virus is widespread and the tribe has several restrictions in place to mitigate the spread of the virus.
“This is not something we want to do but at this time it is something that we must do to protect our children,” she said.
Football coach Brandon Newcomb, who said he has 80 players in his program, hasn’t met with his players since March, when the first stay-at-home orders were put into place and schools had to shut down because of the virus.
“Football I always thought was a rite of passage for a young man,” Newcomb said. “You see guys (on the reservation) who played basketball in senior leagues. Your time (in football here) is between the ages of 14 and 18, unless you’re fortunate enough to play at another level.”
Last week, Gov. Doug Ducey announced in a news conference that the delay of schools opening for the school year was going to be pushed back to Aug. 17, which would be the first time schools could start official football practice.
Newcomb understands that safety comes first, noting that some players on the reservation live with great-grandparents, who are considered at higher risk of dying from the virus.
“I cant imagine what it will be like to come to school some time in late August and September,” Newcomb said. “I’m going to have kids who will need me to be their counselors to get through it. It’s going to to be difficult. I’m not a real proactive on Twitter. I’m more face to face. I like to meet them and things like that.”
Kayenta Monument Valley, which is in the Navajo reservation, could be next to cancel fall sports. That district’s governing board is expected to make an announcement on its plans next week.
Tuba City, another school on the Navajo reservation, has not made a decision, football coach Vince Lee said.
“Currently, there is a health order that prevents large gatherings, including sports practices,” Lee said. “We are waiting for it to end before we resume practices. We were hoping to start practices in mid-July, but it looks like we will not be able to start until August.
“We are also waiting on our conference to see what other schools are planning. Ganado has canceled all fall sports, and it is possible that Monument Valley could follow. Also, many of the teams on our schedule might cancel fall sports. It is really tough because this is my second year, and my team has put in so much work in the offseason with the weights and film sessions.
“We were light years ahead of where this program was last June. But, we have had to sit on our hands for the whole spring and summer. Its very disheartening. But, when we get our opportunity, we are going to give it out best effort.”