City League Q&A: Answers to some of the biggest questions surrounding no fall sports
Thursday night, high school football in Wichita took an overwhelming blow.
The Wichita USD 259 Board of Education voted 5-2 to place Wichita Public Schools in the Orange gating criteria set forth by the Kansas Department of Education, effectively canceling all fall high school activities for at least the next nine weeks. With the season set to begin Sept. 4, it is essentially the entire season.
With the decision comes a wave of implications from mental health of student-athletes to out-of-district transfers. The Wichita City League, or Greater Wichita Athletic League (GWAL), is made up of the seven WPS programs along with a pair of private high schools, Bishop Carroll and Kapaun Mt. Carmel. City League athletic director J Means answered a host of questions and commented on several issues that arose from Thursday’s decision in a Q&A with The Eagle.
How have you been deployed today after Thursday’s news?
“I’ve been trying to talk to all of my ADs and trying to help them out the best I can for them to deal with it at a building level with emails and all of that. I think it’s more expressing the frustration of something that comes to an end at least for right now. There are a lot of questions about, ‘What could I possibly do with my athletes? Can I videotape them doing some drill that they can put up on Hudl for college football coaches? Can I do some time trials with my cross country kids to at least get them some times?’ Those are some of those things that we’ve got to work through and got to make a plan.
“Today, I just told everybody, ‘Let’s just take a day.’ Coaches and athletes need to get together, cry, and it might be one of those days that we’re not all following social distancing as well as we should because coaches and kids both need some hugs today. We need to work through those issues before we really make any other plans.”
What was your reaction to the decision?
“I have to be honest, I’m still just trying to process the whole decision, and I think a lot of our ADs and coaches are in that same spot right now. We’ve got to take the weekend probably to decompress and then come back Monday and start looking at a lot of those questions.
“There was no easy answer, but those of us in athletics, whether the answer is right or wrong, that’s the frustrating thing. Not even just in athletics but all of those other activities that kids love to get involved in, and now they don’t have those options at all at least right now. That makes it tough.”
Some expected to hear from you at the Board of Education meeting last night before the vote. Was there any plan for doing that, and how did that all work out?
“Given the charge the board had given me on Monday to come back with just a league schedule and plans for spectators and all of that, I was very prepared and ready to go. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that opportunity. That’s one of those tough decisions that the board has to make.”
How surprised were you to not see that any of those low-contact, low-risk sports would be allowed this fall?
“I live on Reflection Ridge, and golf has been my outlet through all of this. My wife and I play a lot because right now there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can do. But to answer your question, we’ve all known that based on the criteria, football was kind of that high-risk sport. I wish they would have looked at making some of those separate from football. I pointed out at the board meeting on Monday that we have done workouts all summer long, and we had done a great job. That was why I proposed that we only play in the GWAL because our schools had done a great job. The Shrine Bowl went off and didn’t have any issues.
“So yeah, I would have expected some of those non-high-risk sports to be available, but at the end of the day, I come back to that this was a tough decision. I wouldn’t want to be in their spot last night at all. It’s a thankless job being a board member when you don’t get paid. And every school board out there is wrestling with the same decision. It is happening all over the place depending on where you live.”
Is it possible for fall sports to begin in nine weeks, after the USD 259 Board of Education does a re-evaluation of the situation?
“I would say two things on that. The board did leave open the fact that if things change quickly for better or worse, maybe all of a sudden we give the district the Green criteria or maybe all of a sudden we are in the Red where everybody has to go remote. The board could come back and make their decision, but that would have to happen pretty darn quick for us to get back to the fall sports. But even just looking at the nine weeks, if things get better, hopefully it would allow us to start winter sports.”
In terms of filling the void athletics leaves behind, how big of a mental health challenge do you see this being?
“I think it will be huge. As a former athlete, too, I think back while I was getting good grades in school, I was working throughout the day to make it to the end of the day when I could get to cross country or basketball or whatever sport it was. Most athletes, I think, would say that. It gets you through the day. It’s that icing on the cake.
“I also know that there some kids out there where the only way we get them to come to school and to keep them working hard in the classroom is to keep themselves eligible for those extracurricular activities. So I’m really worried about those kids. What do we do with them? I’m hoping that as we make plans going forward that we can come up with some ways that coaches can still connect with those kids and keep them working hard even when you’re at home every day.”
Do you anticipate any transfers out of Wichita USD 259 or City League schools, and is that a concern?
“Yes. There is no other way to put it: I don’t want to see kids leaving our district. I still believe in our district. I still believe in the opportunities that kids can get here. But at the same time, parents have to do what they feel is best for them and their kids.”
How will this decision affect conditioning for the winter?
“The other part that worries me - and you look back at what happened in the summer - KSHSAA knew we had no spring activities, so they allowed us to work those kids a lot more this summer, knowing it was going to take longer for some of them to get back in shape. I see it the same way this time. We have no fall sports, and so either they’re not participating in a fall sport or we have conditioning in the fall for winter sports for those kids that aren’t in a fall sport. Now they are missing out on that, too. If we all of a sudden start winter sports, some of those kids are going to be out of shape. It may take more than three weeks to get those kids back and going.”
How will this affect recruiting?
“I wouldn’t necessarily have the answer, but I know it will certainly have a big impact. We are not the only school district, not the only state going through these same kinds of things. College coaches will figure out a way, and so will we. We will have to sit down and talk with college coaches, talk with ADs and say, ‘What is the best way for us to move forward and help those kids that have that opportunity to earn a college scholarship?’ I know some schools and districts are looking at hosting some combines to get those kids a chance to show off their abilities. I think the book is kind of open as to what we can do.”
Do you anticipate some coaches, players and/or athletic directors to fight this decision?
“Just like there were teachers protesting in front of the meeting Thursday night — and I respect the fact that they can do that — they felt very strongly in their own feelings about how schools should progress. Do I believe that possibly some of that could take place at the next board meeting? Sure, and just like the teachers had the right, coaches and athletes and parents would have the right, too, because they’re concerned in the other way. Does that mean the board will re-look at their decision? I can’t speak for any of them.”
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 2:07 PM.