The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Inside: DeWine says it’s too early to make call on sports.
Contact sports, football the biggie, is concern
Governor Mike DeWine touched on high school sports during his address from Columbus Aug. 4, and acknowledged the frustration caused by uncertainty for parents and students ahead of the school year.
Three weeks away from the first weekend of football season, though, the governor said it’s still too early to make decisions regarding whether or not contact sports competition will be permitted this fall.
“We don’t know exactly what is going to happen as we move forward,” DeWine said. “We have been working, Jon (Husted) has specifically been working with the Ohio High School Athletic Association, working with coaches to try to get this thing figured out.”
Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted conferenced with Ohio High School Football Coaches Association representatives Aug. 3.
OHSFCA president Tom Pavlansky said there was “progress” made during the half-hour call, in which the OHSFCA and Husted went over the 37-page plan of proposed protocols the coaches association developed.
The state Department of Health posted a new order Aug. 1 that stated all practices, training and workouts could resume. Husted included cross country among a list of schools allowed to begin competition at present.
“All sports deemed non-contact can compete presently,” Husted said. “This includes but is not limited to baseball, softball, golf, volleyball, tennis, track and field, swimming and cross country was recently added to that list. These have been operating and can go forward.”
Area schools await a change in cross country’s designation as a contact sport by the OHSAA. The National Federation of State High School Associations listed cross country with staggered starts as a low-risk sport and the ODH order Aug. 1 removed cross country from its group of contact sports.
Husted said the state is reviewing plans to safely accommodate fans.
The OHSAA announced Aug. 4 schools could seek rights fees from local media outlets to provide a live feed of football games on Friday nights, affording schools an opportunity to compensate for revenue that may be lost by measures implemented to limit spectator attendance.
The OHSAA said Aug. 3 it is continuing to working with the state to confirm cross country is now classified as a low-contact sport by the Ohio Department of Health.
Attention shifted to the testing requirements in the order, which were put in place earlier in the summer.
Husted pointed to the logistical and financial concerns related to testing for high school competition expressed in recent days and clarified guidelines in the current order do not represent the state’s plan for a return to competition in the fall.
“We are still working with the Ohio High School Athletic Association to finalize that plan,” Husted said. “We are still considering many options, we’re trying to keep the options open because we want student-athletes to return to play.”
Area athletic directors said they expect the cost of tests to run $150 per person and, under the current ODH order, a negative result from a test administered less than 72 hours ahead of competition is necessary for participation.
Husted said those in charge of testing informed him that, due to supply, they don’t recommend testing asymptomatic people. DeWine noted the state currently doesn’t have the ability to perform that type of massive testing.
“Obviously if we did have the ability to do it, that would be up to the individuals if they wanted to be tested and it would be up to the schools if they wanted to do that,” DeWine said. “We don’t have the capability of that today so it’s simply not on the table to do that.”