Cooperation from fans vital for sports

I covered a football game last week where I was just as interested in what was happening in the bleachers as I was about the action on the field.

That’s a first for me in over 30 years of covering high school sports.

The scene was Harmon Field, where Fayetteville beat Greenwood 16-7 during limited action in a preseason scrimmage. The scrimmage will benefit both teams as they prepare for the regular season, if we have a regular season.

Nothing is guaranteed, especially during a pandemic that shut down team sports in Arkansas for over 21/2 months. But I grew more optimistic while moving about the stadium before kickoff and watching as people followed the guidelines Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the Arkansas Department of Health established for the continuation of high school sports.

Everywhere I looked, people wore face coverings and followed the rule on social distances. At Harmon Field, there were tables with hand sanitizers and signs posted that asked family and friends to sit together in small groups and distance themselves at least six feet or four seats from others.

They did.

As a member of the media, I was asked to enter a checkpoint and be screened before continuing onto the field.

I did.

At this point, I’d like to reiterate in print what Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette sports editor Chip Souza said forcefully during our Prep Rally Podcast last week: If you can’t follow a few simple rules, stay home. This is not about you, it’s about these kids who want the chance to play.

“For our kids to get to play football, I’ll wear a mask in the shower or to bed, whatever it takes,” Lincoln Athletic Director Deon Birkes said. “We don’t want to just start football, we want to finish it.”

I was pleased when Hutchinson cited a photo that appeared in our newspaper before his daily briefing on covid-19 last Thursday. It was a picture of high school students in the bleachers wearing masks and with their arms outstretched to ensure they were socially distanced from each other.

“What a great example and leadership on their part,” Hutchinson said. “This is the kind of carefulness we need from everyone if we want to start school, and start and finish sports. It was great to see.”

Teamwork with everyone working together for a common goal. It’s got to be this way, folks, if we’re to move forward with high school sports in Arkansas.

Fayetteville coaches wore shirts that read “Family” across their chests during the scrimmage with Greenwood. I think the “Family” aspect should apply to everyone in attendance this year — coaches, players, media, and fans — in the fight against the spread of covid-19. Everyone needs to do their part to support these young athletes, especially the seniors who won’t get this year back.

If not, then we may have to try this again in 2021. Or, 2022.

That’s the world we live in today and the uncertainty of our situation with sports was highlighted last Friday when the Arkansas Department of Health announced 22 new deaths, the highest single-day total since the pandemic reached the state in March.

Every day we hear of games being canceled and practices being rescheduled because of someone who comes down with covid-19. Springdale Har-Ber and Bentonville West had to find new opponents to open the season when the two largest classifications in Texas had the start of their seasons pushed back to mid-September, and Bentonville High is searching for Plan B after the school district at Liberty (Mo.) North voted not to play out-of-state games. And it is sobering at the college level that the Big 10 and Pac-12 Conferences won’t attempt to play this fall at all because of concerns about covid-19.

But Arkansas, for now, will move ahead with school openings and participation in contact sports like football and volleyball. So, if you’re planning to attend high school sporting events this season, be prepared to follow the guidelines. It’s not that hard.

Remember, it’s for the kids and your own safety.

We can do this.