The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
OHSAA did right thing, even if it’s unpopular
Novel coronavirus robbed athletes of opportunity, not prep sports governing body
Respect the game. For more than 15years, OHSAA has marched under that mantra.
Respect the game.
For more than 15 years, the Ohio High School Athletic Association has marched under that mantra. Regardless of final score, who was playing, and whether or not a state championship was on the line, how you played the game superseded everything else ...
Until March 12, when the governing body of Ohio scholastic sports, in an unprecedented move, suspended all postseason tournaments in the name of protecting the health of not only the participants and their fans, but also anyone who came or would come into contact with those parties in the immediate future.
The potentially deadly novel coronavirus had officially had its say in Ohio high school sports much like it did in collegiate and professional sports across the nation and in parts of the globe. Watching OHSAA executive director Jerry Snodgrass settle into his seat at St. John Arena, where the OHSAA announced it was suspending tournaments indefinitely just prior to the start of the 2020 girls basketball state tournament, it was evident that the leader of the organization was troubled by what he was about to announce.
He was about to tell hundreds of high-school athletes who were still on their postseason trek that their dream of playing in — and winning — a state championship were, for all intents and purposes, over.
Yes, Snodgrass noted that he used the term “indefinitely suspended” so as to not close the door on returning after an unspecified amount of time — hopefully for experts to get control of the COVID-19 virus that has spread across the nation — to resume the state tournaments where they left off.
His verbiage left the possibility of the girls basketball, wrestling and ice hockey tournaments, as well as this weekend’s regional boys basketball tournament and and next weekend’s state tournament, being resumed and completed at some point.
But when Gov. Mike DeWine took to the podium an hour or so later and announced the closure of all schools in Ohio, starting March 16, in attempt to quarantine away COVID-19, serious doubts arose as to if any tournament would resume. Especially after three weeks away.
How do basketball teams practice for the resumption of a tournament when they’re not able to congregate to practice?
How do wrestlers workout and maintain weight for three weeks, unless the state tournament resumes with a plus-10 weight allowance?
All are valid questions. The biggest question, though is this ...
Did the OHSAA do the right thing?
The answer is a resounding yes.
The OHSAA has taken on the responsibility of providing a grand opportunity to experience scholastic sports while promoting teamwork, dedication and sportsmanship, along with the opportunity for individuals and teams to earn the name “state champion.”
They also accept a measure of responsibility of protecting those in their organization from harm. When the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease and Prevention
offers recommendations to combat a potentially dangerous and deadly virus, and coupled with mandates set by the governor of Ohio based on discussions with the state’s board of health, those directives are not taken lightly.
And as cruel and harsh as it might seem, participating in tournament games — whether it’s high school, college or professional sports — come in a distant second on a list of priorities.
The reality is that no one knows for sure every single thing there is to know about COVID-19. Most, if not all, of the preventative measures that are being taken in America right now are so as to keep this country from experiencing the widespread health crisis being experienced in China and Italy.
Experts know the symptoms of COVID-19 and how fast it spreads. The happenings of China and Italy showed them that. Mass gatherings, such as those that happen at regional and state tournaments, are potential breeding grounds and precipitate spreading.
That’s why the current measures being taken by the OHSAA and governing bodies of all athletic congresses to the degree that they are.
Without a doubt, the dreams of all the area high school athletes being crushed this week is sad. Student-athletes across Ohio — further if you’d like — have worked, bled and sacrificed to put themselves into the position to play on the state’s grandest stage in the hope of those state championship dreams coming to fruition.
The OHSAA didn’t rob them.
COVID-19 did.
If the OHSAA ignored the recommendation of the world experts — the CDC and the and WHO — threw caution to the wind and pushed on with their tournaments as scheduled, and a widespread breakout of COVID-19 spawned a coverage as it did in China and Italy, then what?
Imagine if no preventative measures were taken, the pandemic — as the World Health Organization has characterized COVID-19 — took over and
people died from something they contracted at the state tournament in which you performed? It’s a realistic possibility — not necessarily a probability — but a possibility nonetheless.
Would that be worth it? Remember, that’s the biggest blueprint America has to deal with in its battle with COVID-19 — China and Italy. So any precautionary measure taken in this country is to prevent that from happening here.
Is that worth postponing, canceling or sacrificing tournaments?
By “indefinitely postponing” their tournaments, or if they eventually cancel them all together, the OHSAA says yes.
That is the ultimate stamp of legitimacy on the OHSAA’s mantra, “Respect the game.”
Respecting the well-being of the people whose lives those games touch, and beyond.