To play or not to play
Youth league in the Lehigh Valley faces dilemma in unprecedented times
As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, so do questions in the Lehigh Valley youth sports community on how and when to return to the field of play.
Opinions and approaches are as diverse as the number of organizations that shape the lives of the thousands of children who play for their teams.
Despite the PIAA continuing to ponder the feasibility of fall sports and all non-Division I-A college programs in Pennsylvania having pulled the plug on the fall season, there is no such uniformity among youth organizations.
Some have shut down, some have proceeded full-speed ahead. Others, such as the South Parkland Youth Association, operate in a gray expanse that features an eternal tug of war between caution and aggression.
“I’d say we’re probably in the middle,” SPYA president Dave Kentner said. “Since almost every youth program is relying on the counties and the school districts for their facilities, we’re at the mercy of those facilities to tell us what we can and can’t do.”
For example, South Parkland was set to enter its football team in the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth League’s fall season — until the EPYFL voted last week to cancel the season due to safety concerns.
“Ultimately, the health and wellbeing of our players, cheerleaders, parents, families, officials, coaches and organizations was more important than any benefit of trying to have a tackle football season,” a statement on its website said.
The SPYA also will not be able to have a fall basketball season because it will not have the use of Parkland’s school district facilities, which have been closed to all non-district activities.
After Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf recommended (without mandating) last week that all Pre-K-12 and recreational youth sports be postponed until at least Jan. 1, Allentown closed all city-owned and maintained sports fields until further notice.
The “middle” Kentner speaks of is where most other associations are. They want to get the kids back out there, but in some cases they are prevented or are restricted by new rules to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
District 20 Little League canceled its spring program but has plans in place now for the fall season.
Programs within District 20 have been practicing on the field for less than three weeks for a season that will be unlike any other.
“There’s been a lot of planning to get
to where we are now,” North Bethlehem Little League president Dan Wickemeyer said. “We provided our guidelines not only to our families but to other leagues.”
North Bethlehem Little League is part of District 20, which means its teams will travel around the Lehigh Valley with certain safeguards in place, such as using all its own equipment, including baseballs.
Wickemeyer, like just about every other person associated with youth sports, was taken aback by Wolf’s recommendation last week.
Although North Bethlehem takes Wolf’s words seriously, it’s moving forward toward a fall season with what it believes to be safe guidelines recommended by the Center for Disease Control.
“We’re sticking to our guidelines because we really feel it’s important for the kids to continue,” Wickemeyer said.
The same is true for the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association, which posted a statement explaining its position on its website.
“The Governor and Department of Health “strongly recommended” but did not order or mandate a cessation of soccer and has left the decision up to the local governing authorities,” it wrote on Aug. 7. “After thoughtful discussion, the board was unanimous in its decision to continue to sanction youth soccer activities for the 2020-21 season. These sanctioned activities include team training, scrimmages and competitions.”
EPYSA chief executive officer Chris Branscome did not respond to interview requests for this story.
Wolf, asked Thursday about recreational leagues and travel teams going ahead with youth sports, said, “I do have concerns.”
When asked whether it would be safer to have young athletes play in school-sanctioned arrangements, Wolf said people could develop a “hierarchy” of things in terms of safety. In that hierarchy, having youth travel around for sports increases the chance of virus spread, meaning it increases the chance for disruption of education.
He noted that his daughters, when they were younger, were high school cross country runners.
In his mind, Wolf said, “I think I would put education up there above cross country.”
There is a money factor in the decision to play or not. Some Lehigh Valley youth athletic association revenues exceed $1 million annually with officers pulling in six-figure salaries. Those salaries are tied to income derived from registrations, which go to pay a select number of officers and employees.
“That’s something to look at,” said Kentner, who also pointed out how travel teams, which are a big part of some organizations, have higher expectations, and the parents sometimes have different outlooks on the riskreward balance of moving forward in a pandemic.
“Everyone thinks they have the next superstar,” Kentner said. “The expectation is to play.”
Another organization that has decided to carry on is Big 4 Lacrosse, which last weekend conducted two tournaments with large turnouts at Grange Park in Upper Macungie Township.
At the same time, East Coast Volleyball held a tournament at nearby Lone Lane Park.
Hundreds of fans attended, many without masks.
Kris McLaughlin, the Big 4 boys director of programming and player services, did not respond to interview requests.
Said Kentner: “There was a lot of money tied up in that. I hope the township made some money off it, because of Grange and Lone Lane parks that were totally destroyed by these two tournaments that weren’t canceled because of rain because it was about money.
“Hopefully it was worth it.” East Allen parks and recreation director Chuck Frantz ponders that kind of thing daily.
“We’re going to go ahead with sign-ups,” he said. “We’re anticipating we’re going to have the soccer leagues. … We’re planning on having a [fall] season. And if things change where the [infection] numbers start going up, then we’ll pull the plug on that.”
Frantz is not optimistic, however.
“I just think something’s going to happen where the numbers spike again,” he admitted. “I think once they start spiking, everything is going to come to a stop.”
Frantz’s personal preference would be to shut everything down until the spring. But he understands that it’s not realistic in his community and that the decision is not his to make.
“But [the teams] are all saying they’re [playing] and … of course you have parents that want their kids to play, so we’re kind of behind the 8-ball.”
Frantz said two weeks ago he wrapped up a successful sixweek summer day camp for 45 kids ages 9-12.
“Knock on wood, we didn’t have one incident where we had anyone come down with the virus,” he said. “We screened every parent every day when they dropped those kids off. I had 13 counselors in this camp as well and we had no issues.”
But the bottom line is that nobody can see what’s coming next, so everyone continues to tread lightly.
“I said this in the board meeting the other night,” Kentner said, “that you’ve got big-boy football and colleges canceling. So if they’re concerned at that level, we should really be concerned at our level. We’re at the youngest level with the most vulnerable groups, the parents.
“I have mixed feelings on it. It’s very hard to predict and to know if we’re doing something wrong.”
Barring a shutdown order from the governor, by the time they get their answer, it may be too late.
Morning Call Harrisburg correspondent Ford Turner contributed to this story. Morning Call reporter Nick Fierro can be reached at 610-778-2243 or nfierro@mcall.com.