Inside: Phoenix cancels all youth sports tournaments.

Phoenix is canceling all sports tournaments in the city until the number of reported COVID-19 cases and spread of the virus decreases significantly.

The Phoenix City Council voted 7-2 Wednesday to prohibit tournaments at city sports complexes until community spread falls from the “high” category to the “low” and “moderate” risk categories under the Maricopa County Department of Public Health guidelines.

The city will immediately cancel the tournaments scheduled at its facilities for this month and January, according to the mayor’s office. That includes 14 tournaments — mostly soccer and softball — involving about 1,900 teams. The tournaments could be rescheduled at sports complexes in other cities.

Mayor Kate Gallego and Council members Carlos Garcia, Betty Guardado, Michael Nowakowski, Laura Pastor, Debra Stark and Thelda Williams voted in favor of canceling the tournaments.

Councilmen Sal DiCiccio and Jim Waring voted against the cancellations.

As part of the council decision, the city also will close some park amenities, including ramadas, picnic tables, fitness equipment, basketball and volleyball courts and sports complexes. Parks and park bathrooms will remain open.

The virus has spread significantly in the city since it began allowing the tournaments in September. Gallego announced last week that the council would review the city’s policies, saying that she was concerned at how drastically the public health situation had changed in the past few weeks.

Gallego was in the hot seat last week for allowing a youth soccer tournament to take place in Phoenix over Thanksgiving weekend. Tournament matches also took place in Mesa and Scottsdale.

Saskia Popescu, an epidemiologist for the University of Arizona who the city hired to make public health recommendations to the council related to COVID-19, told council members Wednesday that they should cancel the tournaments, saying that it is challenging to mitigate the spread of the virus during large sports events.

Gallego said the council’s decision was based on the spread of COVID-19 in the community and the expectation that the public health system will be overwhelmed in coming weeks as the number of cases is projected to grow.

“We are at a tough time in our country right now,” Gallego said. “We have to make data-based decisions based on the data we have.”

Health care leaders want cancellations; parents, coaches don’t

Health care leaders in the community told the council Wednesday that they needed to cancel the events to prevent the spread of the virus as it surges in the state and to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed with patients.

“Do not add additional risk to our health care system,” said Dr. Marjorie Bessel, a chief clinical officer at Banner Health.

Many parents, coaches and leaders of youth sports leagues, though, told the council over the phone and in written comments that it was crucial for children’s mental and physical health to allow the tournaments.

“The guidelines are in place and clearly worked,” said Brett Johnson, board president of the Scottsdale Cal Ripken Baseball League. “Continue to support guidelines and let the kids have an outlet. This should be about our children’s mental health and physical health. Keep sports open.”

Gallego and a few of the council members who also voted to cancel the tournaments said they understood it would be hard on children, but they had to make this decision because they thought it would help limit the spread of the virus. That included Councilwoman Laura Pastor, who said she has children in club sports.

“But in me making this decision, it’s about the greater good of our community and staying alive,” Pastor said.

DiCiccio said that it was a “knee jerk” decision that targeted children but did not do anything to protect the public at large from the virus.