‘Let the kids play’: Coaches react after Kansas high school winter sports are greenlit
Winter sport athletes and coaches at Kansas high schools celebrated Tuesday when the Kansas State High School Activities Association Board of Directors voted to allow their season to start on time next week, albeit without fans in the stands until the end of January.
The KSHSAA Board of Directors, a group of 77 members with representatives from every league in the state, held a virtual meeting on Tuesday to consider a proposal that would have delayed the start of winter sports until Jan. 15.
Judging from the 53-22 measure in which the vote passed, Eureka principal Sean Spoonts seemed to capture the board’s thoughts during the open discussion.
“The parents and students have spoken and we need to let the kids play,” Spoonts said.
The vast majority of local athletic directors and winter sports coaches agreed with the board’s decision on Tuesday.
“I think this is the best-case scenario for the situation that we’re in,” Heights athletic director Mike Church said. “We need to try to get this pandemic under control, but we also need to understand what’s best for our kids and that’s the opportunity to play. This is good for the kids and the right way to go right now.”
Basketball teams have been practicing since last week with hopes of starting their season next Friday. Every program is facing new safety precautions this season during the coronavirus pandemic, but some programs, like Heights, are going above and beyond.
According to boys basketball coach Joe Auer, his players go through a daily health screening, including taking their temperature and checking for symptoms of COVID-19. Coaches are wearing masks during practices and players are wearing them when they’re not running.
“We’re going to be as responsible as we possibly can and show people that we can do this activity as safe as possible,” Auer said. “I think the benefits far outweigh the negatives. When we get to January, our Wichita public school kids will have been out of the classroom for 10 months. That’s an eternity. So anything we can do to offer them an opportunity to socially engage and compete, if we can do it safely, then we need to do it and I think we’ve come up with a way do that.”
The KSHSAA medical advisory committee made the suggestions of pushing back the start of winter sports season to Jan. 15 and banning fans until two weeks after that because of the soaring COVID-19 rates in the state. The committee was also concerned about the potential of even more spread following the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
“The numbers in our health system are at an all-time high,” said David Smith, the team physician for the Kansas City Royals who was also on the KSHSAA medical advisory committee. “We’ve never had more patients in the hospital with COVID. We’re about triple what we were at a month ago.
“We’re in the fourth quarter now. We had spring, we had summer, we had fall and now we’re in winter and I will predict we will go into overtime because this is not ending. The data is very clear we are not ending this soon.”
But losing approximately one-third of the season was not appealing to coaches or athletes, who feared they could lose an even bigger chunk of the season come mid-January if coronavirus cases in the state had not improved.
“I feel like it’s the right decision to start right now just because we don’t know where we’ll be come January 15,” Eisenhower boys basketball coach Steve Blue said. “I think we know where we’re at right now. As long as teams are healthy and kids are able to play, then we should go forward.
“I do think there’s a chance later in the season we may have to postpone some games. But I’d rather not start out by postponing. I’d rather play the wait-and-see game and just go ahead and start and see how many games we can get in.”
The reality of losing games due to COVID-19 cancellations seems inevitable to teams in all winter sports — basketball, wrestling, swimming and bowling.
That’s why some coaches were cautious about their excitement following Tuesday’s ruling to start the season next week, even though they will still be allowed to compete in full schedules.
“Of course we’re excited because we want the kids to have a season, but I think you can jump side to side on this issue,” Maize wrestling coach Mike Schauer said. “We know we’re going to have some portion of a regular season, but everybody’s goal is to have a regionals and state. That’s our main focus.
“So I can understand why people might want to wait to start because (COVID) numbers are so high right now. Maybe we stall now and then start later to make sure our goal is pushing this thing through at the end, but I can also see why people want to start now and maybe get stymied, but at least get it started.”
While the decision made Tuesday by the KSHSAA Board of Directors was largely celebrated by the athletes, was ignoring the suggestions from doctors the right decision for their health?
“We’re not focused on if it’s the right decision, it’s just the decision,” Auer said. “Our kids were fully prepared to pivot if need be. But they were ecstatic to hear the news. They’re determined more than ever to follow whatever safety precautions they have to do to be allowed to compete this year.
“So our focus isn’t on right and wrong, as much as this was the decision that has been made and we have to act accordingly. I will tell you that I’m a strong believer that one of the safest places for our kids is in school and especially in activities.”
The KSHSAA Board of Directors found a compromise with the doctors in their Tuesday rulings — it did follow the medical advisory committee’s advice to ban fans from events through at least Jan. 28.
After allowing each individual school to work with local health authorities to determine the number of fans who could attend games for fall sports, the KSHSAA Board of Directors issued a uniformed policy for winter sports.
In speaking with reporters after the decision, KSHSAA executive director Bill Faflick said he knows the decision will draw criticism from parents.
“It’s been a very emotional time every time there’s been restrictions on people to be able to attend contests for their kids or for their alma mater or for their favorite school,” Faflick said. “But something’s not working because community spread is continuing and there needs to be a response. The one thing we know is the three areas of concern is meeting, eating and greeting and those all take place at ball games.
“We work really hard to have social distancing expectations and crowd limits, but it doesn’t do any good to have crowd limits if everybody congregates together. Can we dial it back eventually? Certainly, that’s a possibility, but right now the board has said the cleanest, safest way to do this, based on what doctors are saying about this disease spreading through adults and their interactions, is by eliminating some of those interactions.”
Local athletic directors said they have already heard from parents who are upset they won’t be able to watch their child compete for much of this season. They point out that many schools have streaming options now, which allow spectators to still watch the games.
Parents might be angry this week, but Church thinks that’s a price they are ultimately willing to pay to allow the winter sports season to happen.
“Believe me, this stinks and I’m a guy who wishes parents were in the stands and a guy who’s fought to get parents in the stands,” Church said. “But if we have to sacrifice one thing for another, I think parents will be able to appreciate that their kids are going to get to play.”
This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 8:04 AM.
.jpg)